LET’S BE ACTIVE: THE POWER OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM FOR ADULTS IN LITHUANIA

Анотація

Introduction. Physical inactivity is considered the fourth biggest killer in the world (1) and the main cause of non-communicable diseases, with an annual cost of € 8.4 billion (2). However, the high numbers of Europeans never exercised or played sports (3). Despite positive developments, physical inactivity among adults continues to be prevalent, requiring targeted and evidence- based interventions. There is evidence that individualized, structured and supervised training together with education can improve people’s willingness to engage in regular long-term fitness training (4). However, neither in Europe nor in Lithuania, such official educational programs for novice participants have not yet been created and the effectiveness is unknown, which we tried to verify with this study.