Time bombs, sport and exercise science and the future of society

Abstract

Recently, The Physiological Society and Guild HE partnered with Emsi (data analysts) to produce the report ‘Sport and exercise science education – impact on the UK economy’ (The Physiological Society, Emsi & GuildHE, 2019). This provided a fascinating and objective assessment of the contribution of sport and exercise science (SES) to those who study it and to society in general. Its first paragraph stated that ‘the exercise component of SES is intimately related to important health outcomes’, in part through ‘investigation of the positive and preventative impact of exercise on a wide range of major physical and mental health conditions, including inactivity, obesity, diabetes, cancer, cardiac rehabilitation, and depression’. It is generally posited that most cultures move from barbarism through civilization to decadence (https://quoteinvestigator.com/ 2011/12/07/barbarism-decadence/). Some manage to go directly from the first to the last condition (The Sunday Times, 1926). The loss of physicality in society, which appears causal for the transition from civilization to decadence, has raised concerns for millennia; the Romans were constantly worried about the impact of luxury on their society, and recognized the importance of maintaining physical capability: ‘Mens sana in corpore sano’. More recently, in mid-19th century England, the philosophical movement ‘Muscular Christianity’ stressed the importance of physicality for the maintenance of character (Watson, Weir, & Friend, 2005). Having probably originated with Paul the Apostle, it reappeared in the Victorian era in response to increased industrialization and urbanization and was reflected in Rousseau’s argument of the importance of physical education for the establishment of amoral character (Boyd, 1963). Fast forward to today, we now have a ‘First World’ defined by possession, inactivity and consumption. But, in evolutionary terms, we have only very recently acquired cars, escalators, lifts and seatedwork stations; fundamentally, we remain an ambulatory ape-like animal, for which exercise should be an integral and important part of everyday life. One of the consequences of a life lacking physicality is obesity; inactivity is not the whole story, but it is certainly part of the (energy balance) equation. The Health Survey for England 2016 estimated that more than one in four adults in England are obese and more than one in three overweight (for most adults, a body mass index of 18.5–24.9 kgm−2 is a healthy weight, 25–29.9 kg m−2 is overweight, 30–39.9 kg m−2 is obese and ≥40 kg m−2 is severely obese). Onequarter of children between 2 and 10 years of age are obese. Fibrous atherosclerotic plaques have been found in both the aorta and the