Dobosiewicz Anna Maria, Litwa Ewelina, Różański Gracjan, Badiuk Nataliia. The importance of physical activity in obesity. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2018;8(10):474-483. eISNN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3234802 http://ojs.ukw.edu.pl/index.php/johs/article/view/6964 The journal has had 7 points in Ministry of Science and Higher Education parametric evaluation. Part b item 1223 (26/01/2017). 1223 Journal of Education, Health and Sport eISSN 2391-8306 7 © The Author(s) 2018; This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author (s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non commercial license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper. Received: 02.10.2018. Revised: 19.10.2018. Accepted: 31.10.2018. The importance of physical activity in obesity Anna Maria Dobosiewicz1, Ewelina Litwa1, Gracjan Różański1, Nataliia Badiuk2 1Scientific Circle of Exercise Physiology at Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Ergonomics. Division of Ergonomics and Exercise Physiology, Nicolaus Copernicus Univeristy in Toruń, Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, Poland 2State Enterprise Ukrainian Research Institute for Medicine of Transport, Ministry of Health of Ukraine, Odesa, Ukraine Abstract Obesity is the result of an excessive supply of energy in relation to the body's needs. The etiological factors include environmental factors, genetic factors, sedentary lifestyle, avoiding physical activity, stress or eating excessive amounts of fat. It is estimated that the problem concerns almost 60 million Europeans. Obesity is associated with the possibility of many health complications, including hypertension, carbohydrate disorders, insulin resistance and cancers. Treatment of obesity is a long-term process that needs to be started by finding the main cause, by choosing the right diet, pharmacology, and psychotherapy for rehabilitation. The essence of the fight against obesity is physical activity, which in addition to reducing weight and improving the appearance of other results, such as: strengthening the osteoarticular system, improving the lipid profile, increasing efficiency and physical fitness and improving the mental state. Typical training used in the treatment of obesity are general exercises, characterized by medium or low intensity, effective use of oxygen by working muscles, mobilization of large muscle groups working alternately during exercise, cyclicity and the possibility of long-term exercise without breaks. The features of general fitness exercises include, among others: Nordic walking, walking, cycling, swimming and water exercises, aerobics, dancing and much more. Key words: obesity, physical activity, BMI, exercises