Making the case for physical activity - BHF National Centre ...

Evidence Briefing9Reducing health inequalitiesand improving wider factors ofhealth and wellbeingThe Marmot Review (2010) highlighted currenthealth and social inequalities across England andrecommended policy objectives, such as healthystandard of living, fair work for all and giving childrenthe best start in life, to help reduce inequalitiesacross the life course (42) . The role physical activity canplay in reducing some of these health inequalities issummarised below.Social inequalitiesThere is known to be a social gradient associatedwith healthy lifestyles, including levels of physicalactivity, with those in higher socio-economicgroups experiencing healthier and longer lives thanthose in more deprived areas. If health inequalitieswere reduced:• 285 million years of healthy life could be gainedif everyone experienced the same rates of illness,disability and death seen in the 10% of the leastdeprived areas (42) .• 2.3 million years of life could be saved and 67,000fewer deaths experienced in the working agegroup (age 30 to 59) if the mortality rates fromother classes were the same as that of the ‘highermanagerial and professional’ class (42) .Giving children the best start in life andmaximising their potential• During infancy, physical activity can have apositive impact on motor skills and cognitivedevelopment (43) .• In pre-schoolers, physical activity is associatedwith improved measures of psychosocial health andmotor skills development (43) .• While there is limited evidence about how wellphysical activity levels during childhood relatesto physical activity levels during adulthood, itis still important to promote healthy behavioursthroughout the early years, childhood andadolescences (44, 45) .Making physical activity a priority