Sedentary
lifestyles contribute to
premature death and
health inequalities.
Researchers have studied personal and
community-level determinants of inactivity but few have analyzed corporate influences. To reframe the
public health debate on inactivity and open new doors for
public sector intervention, we conducted a scoping
review of evidence from several disciplines to describe how the
business and political practices of the
automobile,
construction, and entertainment sectors have encouraged sedentary
lifestyles. In the last 50 years, these
industries have found it profitable to produce
motor vehicles,
housing, and entertainment, which intentionally or unintentionally discourage
physical activity. Ceding primary authority for
policy decisions in these sectors to the market-based economy has enabled the
growth of powerful lobbies that encourage and maintain sedentary
lifestyles. To counteract these influences,
public health and
civil society need to confront more
upstream economic and social determinants of sedentary
lifestyles. Building on evidence from efforts to change harmful
tobacco, alcohol and
food industry practices, we propose the creation of
research and
policy agendas that contribute to
public health practice that can modify
corporate practices that contribute to physical, social and political
environments that discourage
physical activity.