Doctors should be prescribing increased physical activity for patients who are keen to improve their quality of life, according to a recent report.
A study in the British Medical Journal claims that regular exercise reduces the risk of heart and lung disease, type-2 diabetes, some cancers and death from all causes by an estimated 20 to 30 per cent.
The findings could boost the numbers of patients being prescribed exercise as the government wants at least 70 per cent of the population to be taking part in at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity, five times a week by 2020.
Currently, only 40 per cent of men and 28 per cent of women in the UK are meeting this target.
In New Zealand, Dr Beverley Lawton and colleagues examined the effectiveness of a primary care-based programme of 'exercise on prescription' in 1,089 less active women aged between 40 and 74, over two years.
At the start of the study just ten per cent of intervention participants and 11 per cent of the control participants were achieving 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week.
However, the researchers found that both groups increased their physical activity over the two years, but activity was significantly higher in the intervention group.
Physical functioning and mental health were also found to have significantly improved in the intervention group, but there were no real improvements in clinical outcomes such as blood pressure, weight and cholesterol.
Interestingly, the researchers add, more falls and injuries were reported in the intervention group.