Functional Software Prototypes for Defining and Monitoring Individual Exercise Program

According to a report issued by the World Health Organization (2011), about 63% of the estimated worldwide deaths in 2008 were due to chronic diseases. In Brazil, the percentage of deaths is even higher, reaching 72% according to the Ministério da Saúde (2011) (Brazillian Ministry of Health). Such diseases are characterized by a long continuous treatment along with, in general, a slow progression as shown by the World Health Organization (2011). Among the chronic diseases are: heart disease, kidney disease, cancer, diabetes, hypertension, chronic respiratory diseases and obesity. The prevalence of obesity is considered a major public health problem in both developed and developing countries, according to the Agência Nacional de Saúde Suplementar (2007) (Brazilian National Health Agency). As shown by Gomes & Lerario (2009), Brandão et al. (2009), obesity is also directly related to the development of other chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension. In developed countries as well as in some emerging countries, including Brazil, the costs of treatment of these diseases that are a result of obesity are significant. In Brazil, approximately 10% of the money invested in the National Health System is a result of the overweight or obese, as shown by Bahia et al. (2012). The gravity of the situation is such that in the United States, the costs of obese patients exceeded the costs of smokers (Cawley & Meyerhoefer, 2012) (Moriarty et al., 2012). Some risk factors are associated with chronic diseases. The main risk factors are smoking, physical inactivity, unhealthy food consumption and abuse in alcohol consumption. Among these, there is physical inactivity. Daily physical activity enables numerous health benefits to the individual. Some of these benefits are weight control and reduction of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and the risk of cancer (Bianchini, Kaaks, & Vainio, 2002). Thus, it can be stated that daily physical activity helps reduce the risk of death from chronic noncommunicable diseases. Even the World Health Organization (2013) itself, in its Global Action Plan, promotes physical activities and exercises for this purpose. Functional Software Prototypes for Defining and Monitoring Individual Exercise Program