Dr. Kristi Adamo was interviewed last week on CBC News about a review study that found “no statistically detectable differences between exercise and drugs for patients with coronary heart disease or prediabetes, when a person shows symptoms that may develop into full-blown diabetes.”

From the interview:

At least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity a week in 10-minute bouts is recommended for adults, said Kristi Adamo, a research scientist at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa where she studies obesity prevention. But only 15 per cent of adults achieve this, according to the Canadian Health Measures Survey.

Adamo notes that the idea of using exercise as medicine dates back to Hippocrates, who called walking man’s best medicine.

“Exercising is challenging for a lot of people. People have many competing interests and exercise often is not a priority for them,” Adamo said in an interview with CBC News. “But I think that as the recognition is growing that exercise is medicine and that exercise can be used not only to prevent disease but … to reduce mortality, I would hope that people would heed that advice.”

Click here to watch the video clip of the interview or to read the related article.