Resumo

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services convened the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee (PAGAC) and charged it with reviewing and summarizing the current scientific evidence linking physical activity to human health and function. The 2018 PAGAC Scientific Report1 serves as the basis for the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition.2 The 2018 Scientific Report extends the findings of the 2008 Scientific Report3 by examining a broader range of health outcomes and special populations that benefit from increased physical activity. In addition, the 2018 Scientific Report more closely examined the specific types, volumes, and intensities of physical activity that are associated with those benefits and now describes novel strategies for physical activity promotion at the population level. A full overview of the process and methods for compiling the scientific evidence, as well as the important new findings from the 2018 PAGAC Scientific Report, have recently been published.4 In this Opinion Piece, we summarize the important topics that were not addressed in 2008.