Professor Sadowski, the Director of the Institute of Cardiology in Warsaw explains the difference between health promotion and prophylaxis. He next emphasises that at the end of the 20th century technology has eliminated the need of hard physical labour for many residents of urban and rural areas. This caused many adverse effects in the function of human organism. They manifest in the impairment of physical development of children and young people, diminished muscular strength and overall physical performance, less tolerance of the circulatory system to physical effort, tendency to increased blood clotting and decreased fibrinolysis. Having little physical exercise impairs the resistance to stress and infections, promotes obesity, accelerates ageing, and impedes intellectual capabilities. The causal treatment for all these disorders is physical exercise. Everyone should know what is beneficial to one's health and what undermines it, should choose a sound life style, but should also have proper social and economic conditions to cultivate it.