GPs and practice nurses need to do more to identify adults who are not active enough and to encourage them to GPs and practice nurses need to do more to identify adults who are not active enough and to encourage them to new guidance from NICE.

Fewer than one in four men and one in three women aged 16 and over currently meet minimum recommendations for physical activity in adults, as set out by the UK Chief Medical Officer. And the cost of inactivity to the wider economy – through sickness, absence or premature death – is estimated at more than £6 billion.

The new recommendations include:

  • Identification – during consultations or
    as part of a planned sessions – of adults
    not meeting physical activity guidelines
  • Use of questionnaires (such as the
    GP Physical Activity Questionnaire
    [GPPAQx]), rather than purely visual
    clues (such as body weight) to identify
    inactive adults who are inactive
  • Tailored advice, taking account of
    aspects such as health status , motivations,
    circumstances and preferences.
    The new guidance also includes
    recommendations for health service
    commissioners.
  • For full guidance visit:
    http://guidance.nice.org.uk/PH44/
    Guidance/pdf/English