| The promotion of health-enhancing physical activity is currently considered one of the key components of public health. Being regularly physically active can prevent the onset of various chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus type II, coronary heart disease, and some forms of cancer. However, more than half of the population in Western Countries is insufficiently active. But, physical activity and sports have also a downside in the form of injuries. The most recent count in the Netherlands showed that there was an absolute number of 2,300,000 acute sports-related injuries each year. Therefore, increasing the number of people that participate in physical activity and sports, and meanwhile decreasing the number of sports-related injuries is a challenge for the future. The promotion of health-enhancing physical activity is currently considered one of the key components of public health. Numerous studies have shown that being regularly physically active can prevent the onset of various chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus type II, coronary heart disease, and some forms of cancer (1-3). However, despite the potential negative health consequence of physical inactivity, more than half of the population in Western Countries is insufficiently active according to the ACSM/CDC guideline for regular physical activity (4,5). Therefore, efforts have to be made to increase the participation in sports and physical activity in the population. Physical activity interventions can be aimed at different populations (e.g. children, elderly, or employers) and can be implemented in different settings (e.g. communities, schools, work, or health care). Although some intervention strategies have been proven to be effective, there is still a need for research on successful interventions, especially interventions developed for specific target groups (e.g. low SES groups, patients with a chronic illness). The objectives of our research group are twofold: to gain more insight in the possibilities for and the (cost-)effectiveness of interventions for Relevance for 'Programma Sport, Bewegen en Gezondheid' of ZonMw: This proposal fits within the priority 'prevention by sports and physical activity' and more specific Currently, only 1,1 fte senior researcher on university funding is available for the supervision of 11 research projects within the research line 'physical activity and health'. In order to maintain the continuity of this research line, additional fte's senior researcher and full professor are needed to guarantee the continuation and consolidation of this research line. |
