Physical activity levels and physical activity recommendations in Japan

Abstract

The significant roles that physical activities play in improving the public’s health and preventing and controlling chronic diseases are now well established, and physical activity has become recognized as a major health-enhancing behavior. This chapter provides an overview of the current recommendations for physical activity in Japan and briefly summarizes current information on the status of objectively-measured physical activity in Japanese adults. Physical Activity Guideline for Health Promotion 2013 established by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan recommended that adults (20–64 years) should engage in at least 60 min of moderate- to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) per day (equivalent to 23 metabolic equivalent (MET)-h per week of MVPA) while older adults (65 years and older) should engage in at least 40 min of physical activity at any intensity per day (equivalent to 10 MET-h per week of MVPA) to maintain health and fitness. According to direct studies of step-count equivalents to the current physical activity guidelines, 10,000 steps/day represented the optimal threshold for likelihood of accumulating at least 23 MET-h per week of MVPA. The National Health and Nutrition Survey of Japan (NHNS-J 2012) showed that the majority of Japanese adults perform inadequate amounts of exercise; only 36 % of men and 28 % of women aged 20 years or older regularly exercise for at least 30 min two or more times a week. Prefectures with relatively low levels of ambulatory physical activity are concentrated in the northeast and west. According to both population based research and national surveys, Japanese adults take between 6,200 and 9,700 steps/day which is below the recommended 10,000 steps/day. Time trends for physical activity as measured by steps has shown that mean steps/day declined from peak values in 2003–2005 to values in 2008 by 550 steps/day among men and by 817 steps/day among women.