Prescription of exercise: Its inclusion in the office visit

Abstract

The proportion of individuals in the population with sedentary habits has increased in the last few years. A sedentary lifestyle is an important risk factor for chronic non-communicable diseases, especially for cardiovascular diseases. Therefore it is important to promote changes in attitudes, values and practices related to health and exercise. There is evidence that the inclusion of physical exercise in a medical prescription is one way to approach sedentary habits in the general population. Family physicians are in a privileged position to try to change behavior, not only because of their continuous contact with a population over time but also because their knowledge of the family, the environment and the community. The prescription of exercise should be understood as a process in which an exercise program is recommended in a systematic and individualized way based on the needs and preferences of each person, in order to obtain benefits without increasing risks. Physicians should not just state that one should do exercise. As for medications, it is necessary to specify the quantitative and qualitative aspects of exercise. The purpose of this article is to discuss the prescription of exercise and to propose it as one of the medical activities that can be performed in an office visit. The benefits of exercise, the role of the physician as a promoter of exercise, the models and theories explaining exercise behaviour, the characteristics of exercise prescriptions, the strategies for their implementation in clinical practice, and primary care programs for advice on exercise are discussed. As the rates of sedentary habits in the population are increasing, it is important to promote exercise counseling in primary care.