Lifestyle

Modern lifestyles put a great burden on the human musculoskeletal system. Since 1980, the worldwide prevalence of obesity has tripled in many European countries. Obesity is known to affect both weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing joints due to a combination of mechanical overload and systemic inflammation. On the other hand, both to combat the obesity pandemic and to increase or maintain the quality of life, physical activity and sports are encouraged next to a healthy diet. Although both have a positive influence on cardiovascular risk factors, physical activity and especially sporting activities do lead to increased loading of the active joints and increased risk for joint injuries, which might lead to osteoarthritis development. This chapter provides an overview of the current knowledge on lifestyle risk factors for the development and progression of osteoarthritis as published in recent systematic reviews, complemented with several narrative reviews.