ReviewPhysiological reviews2017
Role of Inactivity in Chronic Diseases: Evolutionary Insight and Pathophysiological Mechanisms.
Review in Physiological reviews, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 302 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Fasting to Provide Energy Needed to Help Adults in Need of Cognitive Enhancement (FASTING ENHANCE)
Effects of Exercise-Based Interventions on Symmio Self-Movement Screen Scores in Untrained Adults_ A Randomized Controlled Trial
Who cites it
302 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 692 citations in OpenAlex.
- Physical Inactivity and Metabolic Syndrome in the United Arab Emirates: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Parallel Epidemics.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Pooled it
- Physical inactivity in chronic airways disease: an important candidate in the treatable traits paradigm.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2026Pooled it
- Short-Lived Exercise-Induced Exerkines Modulate Inflammation for Chronic Disease Prevention: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Biomolecules · 2025Pooled it
- Impacts of Physical Inactivity Models on Endothelial Function: A Systematic Review.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025Pooled it
- Resting Oxygen Uptake Value of 1 Metabolic Equivalent of Task in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Descriptive Analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2022Pooled it
- Digital Intervention Strategies for Increasing Physical Activity Among Preschoolers: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Pooled it
- The Role of Exercise Training on Low-Grade Systemic Inflammation in Adults with Overweight and Obesity: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Examining the Influence of Promoting Physical Activity Bouts on Adolescent Movement Dispersion: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Control Trial.Journal for specialists in pediatric nursing : JSPN · 2026Trial
- Effects of unsupervised campus HIIT on fitness and sleep in sedentary male students: a randomized controlled trial.BMC public health · 2026Trial
- Assessing muscle fitness changes to resistance training in healthy young adults using the 1-min sit-to-stand test: insights from a mobile app analysis.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Trial
- Trial
- Longitudinal changes in physical activity during and after the first national lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic in England.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Adherence to a Lifestyle Exercise and Nutrition Intervention in University Employees during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Randomized Controlled Trial.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Trial
- Analysis of Effectiveness of a Supplement CombiningInternational journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Trial
- Stress, needs, and behaviour: understanding chronic stress in pet domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) from the prism of needs.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2026Review
- Multiomics profiling identifies molecular and cellular signatures of regular exercise in human peripheral blood.Science advances · 2026Article
- Associations Between Motor Competence, Health-Related Physical Fitness, and Mental Health Outcomes in Spanish Adolescents: The ENERGYCO Study.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2026Article
- Change in Physical Activity Patterns Through a School-Based Intervention: The Altus Health and Wellness Academy Model.AJPM focus · 2026Article
- Design and rationale of the my heart counts cardiovascular health study: a large-scale, fully digital biobank, and randomized trial of large language model-driven coaching of physical activity.American journal of preventive cardiology · 2026Article
- The Motor Neuromuscular Axis: The Overlooked Element of Developmental Programming in Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
242 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
This review proposes that physical inactivity could be considered a behavior selected by evolution for resting, and also selected to be reinforcing in life-threatening situations in which exercise would be dangerous. Underlying the notion are human twin studies and animal selective breeding studies, both of which provide indirect evidence for the existence of genes for physical inactivity. Approximately 86% of the 325 million in the United States (U.S.) population achieve less than the U.S. Government and World Health Organization guidelines for daily physical activity for health. Although underappreciated, physical inactivity is an actual contributing cause to at least 35 unhealthy conditions, including the majority of the 10 leading causes of death in the U.S. First, we introduce nine physical inactivity-related themes. Next, characteristics and models of physical inactivity are presented. Following next are individual examples of phenotypes, organ systems, and diseases that are impacted by physical inactivity, including behavior, central nervous system, cardiorespiratory fitness, metabolism, adipose tissue, skeletal muscle, bone, immunity, digestion, and cancer. Importantly, physical inactivity, itself, often plays an independent role as a direct cause of speeding the losses of cardiovascular and strength fitness, shortening of healthspan, and lowering of the age for the onset of the first chronic disease, which in turn decreases quality of life, increases health care costs, and accelerates mortality risk.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.