• Leandro Fornias Machado de Rezende, Fabiana Maluf Rabacow, Juliana Yukari Kodaira Viscondi, Olinda do Carmo Luiz, Victor Keihan Rodrigues Matsudo, and I-Min Lee.
• Dept of Preventive Medicine, University of São Paulo School of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil.
• J Phys Act Health. 2015 Mar 1;12(3):299-306.

BackgroundIn Brazil, one-fifth of the population reports not doing any physical activity. This study aimed to assess the impact of physical inactivity on major noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), all-cause mortality and life expectancy in Brazil, by region and sociodemographic profile.MethodsWe estimated the population attributable fraction (PAF) for physical inactivity associated with coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, breast cancer, colon cancer, and all-cause mortality. To calculate the PAF, we used the physical inactivity prevalence from the 2008 Brazilian Household Survey and relative risk data in the literature.ResultsIn Brazil, physical inactivity is attributable to 3% to 5% of all major NCDs and 5.31% of all-cause mortality, ranging from 5.82% in the southeastern region to 2.83% in the southern region. Eliminating physical inactivity would increase the life expectancy by an average of 0.31 years. This reduction would affect mainly individuals with ≥ 15 years of schooling, male, Asian, elderly, residing in an urban area and earning ≥ 2 times the national minimum wage.ConclusionsIn Brazil, physical inactivity has a major impact on NCDs and mortality, principally in the southeastern and central-west regions. Public policies and interventions promoting physical activity will significantly improve the health of the population.

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