Getting To The Heart Of The Matter

Trained consultant cardiologist for the NHS in the UK, Dr Aseem Maholtra unpacks the relationship between physical fitness, physical activity and cardiovascular health.

- Dr Aseem Maholtra

The relationship between physical fitness, physical activity and cardiovascular health has been a keen topic of research and political nuance since the 1960s. The late US President John F Kennedy was in fact one of the first world leaders to recognise the importance of structured exercise to individual and population physical and mental wellbeing. If his comments are as relevant today as they were in the 1960s, the policy measures he adopted were visionary and arguably superior to anything we see in the modern era.

The fact that cardiovascular disease (CVD) now accounts for more global deaths per annum than any other disease begs the two-fold question – why is that, and what can we do to reduce the incidence and burden of CVD?

Research clearly indicates that regular physical activity is beneficial for cardiovascular health – generally speaking, the more active or fit a person, the lower their tendency will be to develop heart disease than their sedentary peers. If JFK’s “fitness for all and start in the schools” was a prolific, promising programme, modern policies have failed to make any impact on the deterioration of cardiovascular health.

That our children are more overweight and unfit than at any time in human history is deeply concerning. Meanwhile, almost 80% of the adult population in the UK is already overweight or obese. A highly processed food environment supported by slick advertising campaigns that deliver unhelpful and inaccurate health messaging is a critical issue here.