Physical Activity is a Medicine for Non-Communicable Diseases: A Survey Study Regarding the Perception of Physical Activity Impact on Health Wellbeing

BACKGROUND: A modifiable risk factor for many diseases is physical inactivity. In this modern era, physical activity is acknowledged as a vital strategy to promote good health. According to the WHO, regular physical activity has various benefits for psycho-physical health. Decreased physical inactivity is happening in China due to the increased participation of the Chinese population in physical activity. The human body needs a specific level of physical activity to maintain good health. OBJECTIVE: The main aim of the present study was to assess the Chinese people’s understanding of physical activity and participation in physical activity as a preventive measure against different diseases. METHODS: The present study was exploratory and conducted in the Kunshan county-level city in Jiangsu Province, China. A well-designed questionnaire was used to collect the data from the survey participants. A total of 3390 residents were selected from 1300 households through a simple random sampling technique. The collected data were analyzed through SPSS software. Both univariate and bivariate analysis were performed. RESULTS: The survey results showed that the majority of women are participating in physical activity. Most of the Kunshan people participate in physical activity one time or more than one time per week. They perform 30–60 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity to improve physical fitness, recreation, and disease prevention. Fitness walking is the most common type of physical activity among Kunshan people, and most of them participate in physical activity at night. Wilcoxon signed-rank test indicated that post-test ranks are statistically higher than pre-test ranks (P<0.0039, 0.0039, 0.0039, 0.0020, 0.0001, 0.0156, 0.0313). CONCLUSION: The study results showed that physical activity plays a catalyst role in improving human health on a natural path. It reduces the risk factor of non-communicable diseases and promotes general wellbeing. These findings show that physical activity level increases in Chinese society as more people participate in physical activity for health-being.