Exercise and Fitness

Last update: 13 October 2009,
by Maureen Bell

I've divided this page into two sections. The first provides you with some tips on searching for material on Medline, and the second provides links to other Australian and overseas web resources, including some full text report and journal literature.

Searching Medline

Remember that Medline has a Thesaurus of terms - MeSH (Medical Subject Headings), a controlled vocabulary used for indexing articles in Medline. MeSH terminology provides a consistent way to retrieve information where authors may use different terminology for the same concepts.

You will find material on exercise and fitness in Medline, but you will need to be aware of the thesaurus (MeSH) terms used to search for the various topics. Below are some examples of the language Medline uses to describe the concepts in this field.

MeSH - Exercise

MeSH - Exercise Movement Techniques

MeSH - Physical Fitness

MeSH - Sports

Many concepts have hierarchies of more specific subcategories or related terms. The indentations in the lists reflect the structure of the hierarchy, and the + signs at the end of terms indicate that there is a further hierarchy of terms not displayed here. Any of these terms can be searched individually, or you can "explode" terms to search sections of the list.

Try the following search strategy to find articles on the relationship between physical fitness and life style.

COMBINE

Physical Fitness (MeSH term)

AND

Life Style (MeSH term)
Typical way of life or manner of living characteristic of an individual or group. (From APA, Thesaurus of Psychogical Index Terms, 8th ed)

PubMed's default setting is to "explode" all terms, and so this search will include Life Change Events, which is a subcategory of Life Style.

PubMed Search Formulation

This search strategy uses the headings physical fitness and life style. The section in the square brackets includes majr - which focuses the search on articles where the subject is a major issue in the article. The search is then limited to articles in English or with an English abstract.

Click here to see how it works. PubMed search.

Australian Sources

The Active Australia Survey: A Guide and Manual for Implementation, Analysis and Reporting
Canberra, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2003.

Do Primary Care Interventions to Promote Physical Activity Work?
Do Primary Care Interventions to Promote Physical Activity Work? A systematic review of the literature. By Ben J Smith, Dafna Merom, Peter Harris, and Adrian E Bauman. Prepared for the National Institute of Clinical Studies, Melbourne, Australia, December 2002.

Getting Australia Active: Towards better practice for the promotion of physical activity
By Adrian Bauman, Bill Bellew, Philip Vita, Wendy Brown, and Neville Owen. Melbourne, National Public Health Partnership, March 2002.

The Health Report - Exercise and Fitness
Transcripts from Radio National's Health Report, with Norman Swan.

National Public Health Partnership - Physical Activity (SIGPAH) Publications

Physical Activity
Resources from the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.

Physical Activity, Diet and Body Weight: Results from the 2001 National Health Survey
(Risk Factors Data Briefing, No 1) Canberra, Australian Institute for Health and Welfare, March 2004.

Physical Activity in South Australian Adults, September 2004
Prepared for the Physical Activity by Tiffany Gill and Ane Taylor. South Australia, Department of Health, Population Research and Outcome Studies Unit, Strategic Planning and Research Branch, 2004.

Physical Activity Patterns of Australian Adults: Results of the 1999 National Physical Activity Survey
By Tim Armstrong, Adrian Baumann, and Joanne Davies. Canberra, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, August 2000.

Overseas Sources

Does the Built Environment Influence Physical Activity? Examining the Evidence -- Special Report 282
Committee on Physical Activity, Health, Transportation and Land Use. Washington D.C., Transportation Research Board, 2005.

Exercise & Physical Activity: Your Everyday Guide from the National Institute on Aging

Exercise (Physical Activity)
From the American Heart Association - their scientific position statement.

MEDLINEplus: Exercise/Physical Fitness
MEDLINEplus is the National Library of Medicine's consumer health information portal. Lists of links are evaluated/reviewed/quality-filtered. There's also a section MedlinePlus: Exercise for Seniors

Physical Activity
From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Nutrition & Physical Activity section. Includes reports, recommendations, guidelines, policy, and much more.

Physical Activity and Health: A Report of the Surgeon General
U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity, 1996.

Physical Activity and Older Americans: Benefits and Strategies
A report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in the United States.

Physical Activity Evaluation Handbook
Designed for the assessment and improvement of physical activity programs, and produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Nutrition & Physical Activity section.

Physical Activity Fundamental To Preventing Disease
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, June 20, 2002.

President's Councilon Physical Fitness and Sports. Publications

Promoting Better Health for Young People through Physical Activity and Sports: A Report to the President
A Report to the President From the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Education. Fall, 2000.