Physical inactivity leads to loss of 3,000 years of life in Scotland – report

Physical inactivity lead to the loss of more than 3,000 years of life due to heart disease in Scotland during 2019, a study suggests.

A Public Health Scotland (PHS) study examined the burden of disease attributed to physical inactivity in Scotland.

It assessed how many years of life lost (YLL) due to physical inactivity apply to Scotland’s health board regions and local authority areas.

The report said: “Despite an overall decline in the projected population, the annual disease burden is forecast to increase by 21% over the next 20 years.

“These estimates highlight the need to do things differently and the importance of physical activity in the prevention of non-communicable disease.”

The report’s authors noted that studies in other countries suggest that inequalities in physical inactivity have widened since the onset of the pandemic.

Based on data from 2019, a total of 3,409 years of life is lost throughout Scotland due to heart disease which is attributable to physical inactivity, the report said.

Some 82%, equivalent to 2,800 YLL, is due to individuals in the “very low activity” category – defined as less than 30 minutes a week of moderate physical activity or less than 15 minutes a week of vigorous physical activity.

When calculated on a per capita basis, the Ayrshire and Arran health board region emerged as having the highest rate of YLL due to heart disease caused by physical inactivity.

The lowest rate was in Shetland.

The report’s authors said: “Although we have sought to describe the geographical inequalities in physical inactivity related to ill health within Scotland, we have not sought to explain them.

“Future work should be carried out to understand why these inequalities are apparent, allowing further targeting of approaches.

“Such work would benefit from the data linkage described above and would ideally focus on individuals with very low activity levels in the first instance.

“Those in this lowest category of activity are estimated to determine more than 80% of the physical inactivity disease burden within Scotland.”