ABSTRACT
There has been global concern about the physical activity levels of adults and older adults. As has been pointed out in Chapter 1, the high prevalence of physical inactivity has far-reaching health, economic and social implications. Despite the widespread interest in the problems of physical inactivity, rates remain high and indeed in high-income countries there is evidence that they continue to increase (Hallal et al., 2012). Interventions to promote physical activity in adults and older adults are required to reverse this trend. In this chapter, we address the evidence for how eective interventions have been in increasing physical activity in adults and older adults. Specically, this chapter will aim to:
● summarise the evidence concerning the eectiveness of physical activity interventions for adults and older adults;
● give examples of studies and strategies that have promoted physical activity to adults or older adults in a variety of settings (e.g. worksites and primary health care);
● focus on interventions that have promoted walking and cycling; ● discuss the use of pedometers as a tool to promote physical activity; ● describe the evidence for dierent mediated approaches to physical activity intervention; ● describe the evidence for physical activity interventions in ethnic minorities and socially
disadvantaged groups.
