Childhood physical activity, sports and exercise and noncommunicable disease: a special focus on India

Establishing the relationship between childhood physical inactivity and noncommunicable disease (NCD) is difficult, since chronic disease and mortality are not direct health outcomes of physical inactivity in children. Published literature explores the relationship of physical inactivity with appearance of early childhood disease risk markers, the adverse impact of which may take some time to appear. Promoting childhood physical activity has multiple benefits including delay in evolution of risk factors contributing to adult degenerative disease. It is clear from available literature that physical inactivity or its surrogates constitute an important independent risk factor for NCD. This is likely to be underestimated not only because of measurement issues, but also because physical inactivity may act through other risk factors for NCD. To recognize and intervene on the issue of physical inactivity in children is important not only for the benefit of the child but in the context of NCD in later life. Studies on physical inactivity and its functional correlates are limited in India and this would be an important area for future research.