Prehistoric Period:
Human beings have existed on earth for at least 2,000,000 years and for 99% of that period we have lived a nomadic experience. What does this mean? Humans existed and survived by hunting and gathering their own food. It is clear that humans live a completely different life now when compared to their ancestors as countries begin to develop. As a result, humans have been conditioned from an evolutionary point of view to live a certain lifestyle while the people of today live a completely different lifestyle. The correlation with living habits and disease are very strong. It is evident that nomadic groups that still exist today have lower rates of obesity and disease when compared to their modern counterpart. This is due to the fact that they have very different diets and higher levels of physical activity therefore increasing their energy expenditure.
Agricultural period:
As the nomadic culture became less the norm the agriculture period developed where people grew their own food and had their own animals to eat. This development occurred relatively recently approximately 10,000 years ago. During this period many aspects of how humans lived their lives changed, however humans were still expending plenty of energy as most things required human power to operate.
Industrial Period:
The industrial period occurred during the 18th century and lasted to the end of World War II (1945). During this period an efficient steam engine was developed to minimize the amount of human power needed to power resources. During this brief time span most populations moved from farms to cities. Individuals were still expending more energy through non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) when compared to modern humans. Examples include walking or taking a bike to work as not everyone owned a car and taking a flight of stairs as elevators were not as common as they are today.
Technological period:
After World War II there has been a spike in technological advancements. There has been a massive growth in energy saving devices in both the workplace and at home. As a result, physical activity has become less and less common especially in major cities where transportation services have increased nullifying the need to walk to get somewhere. The urbanization of these cities have also made it mainstream to own a car as more roads are built and footpaths and walking tracks are becoming more neglected. These are the major causes of a decline in physical activity in cities. Despite this there is an increase in individuals participating in recreational sports making sports the common ground to get physical activity in today’s society. Simply put this is humankinds way of returning back to its roots of its ancestors by living a more active lifestyle.
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