Development of a national system of physical training to decrease risk factors of diseases in GDR

The prevention and control of diseases with priority character for people's health is only possible through concerted measures in the medical, social and political fields. In GDR there is in principle concurrence between the purposes in sports and health policies, which becomes evident in administration and management of public health and sports. Physical culture and sports have gained a new position and function through a conscious integration into protection of health of citizens. Simultaneously there has been a shift in emphasis of all medical and social measures from mainly curative to prophylactic measures. The development of sports medicine and its activities in that field have--directly and indirectly--considerably influenced medical and social measures conducive to health. In addition to the registration of adaptational processes in the organism the organization of health training and the training of functional capacities for all citizens is gaining in importance in sports medical care. This comprises the theoretical justification of the possibility of health training as well as the creation of instructions for training, advice in establishing standards of health and their translation into popular forms of physical culture and sports in institutions of education, in enterprises and communities.