Poor fitness is a direct consequence of physical inactivity.
This is something that we thought was happening, and that we have been concerned about. But no one had ever documented before how poor fitness actually is across the population in the United States. What we found is pretty worrisome.
That was one of the most striking findings. We were surprised how many people already have significant risk factors.
What this really reflects is that individuals are becoming less physically active, and poor fitness is a consequence of the decline in activity.
The consequences of declines in physical activity over time are now evident by the large proportion of society with poor fitness levels.
Individuals with poor fitness are at markedly higher rate of dying. We should be very concerned about this.
I'm surprised, in particular, about how high the numbers are among adolescents. This is setting the stage for major health problems later in life.
I think we should be very worried. We have an obesity epidemic already. This is another explanation for that. And it doesn't seem as though the trends are changing for the better. We see decreasing levels of physical activity across all age groups.
