EuropeActive: physical activity, the essential method to fight against a new COVID-19 wave

THINK Active, the latest think tank of EuropeActive, has published an article on the importance of physical exercise against the spread of COVID-19. The article is authored by three university professors, experts in sports, fitness, and health. It shows that the main groups of people predisposed to severe forms of the disease, as a result of being infected with the COVID-19 virus, where those older, that suffer from obesity, and that had a sedentary lifestyle.

The 14-page article is entilted 'The positive impact of physical activity and exercise on immune function; the critical prevention and recovery tool to fight a second wave of COVID-19’.

According to the document, the conditions created by the pandemic have highlighted the importance of physical exercise and the health of society. Now it's the time to translate this importance into a tangible social change of habits and environment.

”Our role as a proactive and responsible industry is to communicate these facts effectively, and to create the conditions that make activity easy, attractive, social and safe. This so that individuals can engage in and benefit from the protective effects of regular physical activity from communicable and non-communicable disease”, states the THINK Active.

Moreover, physical activity plays a crucial role in preventing and managing metabolic diseases and some forms of cancer, which can increase the risk of severe side effects of COVID-19. Additionally, because many people have been isolated at home for an extended period of time, their mental health and the social benefits of physical activities cannot be ignored, say the researchers at THINK Active.

For many people, particularly those who already had different diseases, COVID-19 and the conditions created by this virus have created a perfect storm in which inactivity and a sedentary lifestyle were exacerbated. These habits can worsen the impact of future pandemics. That is because people infected with COVID-19 who ended up in the hospital with severe conditions already had other comorbidities.

Finally, researchers highlight the fact that the COVID -19 virus only needed a few months to spread in almost all countries around the world and cause deaths everywhere. Furthermore, the information provided by researchers sustains the idea that the most severe cases of COVID-19 happened to older and obese people.

”This is indeed a wake-up call, a tocsin, to the world that primary prevention countermeasures focused on health behaviors and hygiene demand our full attention and support. Secondary and tertiary prevention approaches centered on vaccine and therapeutics development will take time and may not be fully effective, giving even more urgency to staying fixated on primary prevention”, concluded the authors of the article.

THINK Active is a new research think tank from the EuropeActive association that wishes to provide scientific proof and promote the best practices for the fitness sector in Europe and everywhere else. The full article published by THINK Active can be read here.