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Physical Activity - "Who Me?"
It wasn't too many years ago that physical activity was more a
part of lifestyle and leisure time was rare. Physical activity
was related to chores of necessity like farming or gardening, hunting,
clearing land, carrying water and the like. If a person was physically
lazy it was likely they were also hungry. Because there were few
advances in medicine and such things as penicillin had not yet been
discovered illnesses that would hardly slow us down now could have
killed us then. As a result, the leading causes of death in those
days were pneumonia and tuberculosis.
In today's society much has changed. In order to avoid hunger
we get in our car, drive to the grocery store, park as close to
the entrance as possible, shop and then have someone carry our groceries
out to the car. Even worse, we could just drive through a fast-food
window order and eat on the run. For many, hard work now-a-days
has little to do with physical exertion and sweat. Modern medicine
can even cure most of the leading causes of death that occurred
in times past.
Because of a change in life-style many of the diseases that afflict
us now are sometimes considered diseases of choice. It is not the
acute infections that worry us so much now but the chronic diseases
that pose a higher risk of morbidity and mortality. Heart disease
ranks number one, killing 1 of every 3 Americans. Cancer ranks
number two and kills 1 of every 4 in our country. Stroke,
chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (e.g., emphysema, bronchitis,
and asthma), and accidents are presently the 3rd, 4th, and 5th leading
causes of death in the United States, respectively.
While it is true that heredity plays a role in many of the leading
causes of death in America, it is thought that about 50% of all
disease and death in our society is a result of lifestyle. Because
of habits developed over a lifetime we may think that a healthy
lifestyle is beyond reason. However, I believe that eating
right, exercising regularly, avoiding dangerous drugs, and balancing
demands with resources, can be learned as good habits that can overcome
any bad habits we have developed. The payoffs are definitely worth
the effort. Occasionally I ask students in my classes about their
cars; how many quarts of oil, type of gasoline, pressure in the
tires, etc. I often find that students can answer all of the questions
about their car but cannot tell me how many calories they consume
in a meal, or what percent is fat, carbohydrate, and protein. As
a consequence many suffer from less than optimal health, are unable
to participate fully in life, and never reach their highest potential.
The reasons people exercise are numerous, some of which may include:
to lose weight, to become more fit, or they simply enjoy the exercise
and recreation activity. Another reason may be that performing
regular physical activity elicits feelings of accomplishment.
Whatever the reason, a healthy lifestyle will almost always lead
to improved well-being
Ron Hager
Health and Fitness Section Editor
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Questions to Ask, or
Thoughts to Share?
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Physical Activity "How Much Do I Need?"
There are many research findings suggesting that risk for some
of the leading causes of death can be significantly reduced by being
physically activity.
Blair et al,. (1989) considered levels of physical fitness and
risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality in men and women.
Age adjusted all-cause mortality fell from 64.0 per 10,000 person
years in the least-fit men to 18.6 per 10,000 person years in the
most-fit men. Similar findings were found in women with results
showing 39.5 deaths per 10,000 person years in the least fit group
and only 8.5 deaths per 10,000 person years in the most fit group.
This represents a 3.2 times and 5.3 times higher risk of all-cause
death between low-fit and high-fit men and women respectively.
Additional analysis indicated that death due to cardiovascular disease
is 7.9 times and 9.3 times more common in unfit compared to fit
men and women, respectively. Further, death from cancer is
4.3 and 16.3 times more common in sedentary compared to high-fit
men and women respectively.
The research suggests that these benefits can be had by most men
and women who engage in regular, moderate intensity physical activity.
This frequency and intensity of activity essentially amounts to
a brisk walk of 30 to 60 minutes duration for most days of the week.
Paffenbarger et al., (1986) looked at data for Harvard University
alumni and all-cause mortality and longevity. During the 12
to 16 years of follow-up, results indicated that changing from walking
less than 3 miles per week to 9 or more miles per week would decrease
risk of death by 21%. In another fairly common daily activity
men who climbed less than 350 stairs per week were at 15% more risk
of death than men who climbed 350 to 1,049 stairs per week.
Another important finding is that men who expended at least 2,000
calories per week versus men who expended less than 2,000 calories
per week in physical activity had a 28% reduced risk of death.
A maximum energy expenditure of 2,000 calories per week would roughly
equate to walking about 20 miles a week for a man weighing 154 pounds.
This could be attained by doing the 30 to 60 minutes of brisk walking
most days of the week suggested by Blair et al., (1989).
In another study by Leon et al., (1987) it was discovered that
leisure-time physical activity levels and risk of coronary heart
disease and death were correlated. Levels of activity were divided
into light (walking for pleasure, bicycling, fishing, and bowling),
moderate (gardening, yard work, home repairs, dancing, swimming,
and home exercise), and heavy (jogging, stair climbing, singles
tennis, snow skiing, cross-country hiking, and backpacking).
The age-adjusted rate per 1,000 coronary heart disease and all-cause
deaths were 37% and 29% lower in the high activity versus low activity
groups respectively. It was found that the optimal amount
of energy expenditure for reducing coronary heart disease mortality
in the moderately active group was accomplished by 30 to 69 minutes
daily of predominately light- and moderate-intensity activities.
The amount of physical activity needed does not require tremendous
amounts of time nor superhuman effort. A brisk walk of 30
to 60 minutes duration most days of the week would move nearly any
person from the low fitness to the moderate fitness category.
Such a move would result in the potential for attaining the most
dramatic health benefits for the time and effort invested.
Participating more frequently and for longer durations of time in
lifetime physical activities such as walking, cycling, gardening,
dancing, hiking, swimming, and climbing stairs will almost certainly
lead to enhanced health and increased longevity.
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and Fitness Section Editors: |
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It's Not Just Physical Activity That Counts -
Diet Also Plays a Role
Nutritional habits can have a strong influence on body fat and
obesity in adults and children. The American
Heart Association (AHA) has some great information on this topic.
One of the main recommendations is that small permanent changes
are more effective than short-term changes that cannot be maintained.
Additional suggestions include:
- Reducing dietary fat is on of the best changes to make. Highly
restrictive diets that forbid favorite foods are likely to fail.
They should be limited to rare patients with severe complications
who must lose weight quickly.
- Becoming more active is widely recommended as a way to lose
weight. Increased activity is common in all studies of successful
weight reduction. Create an environment that encourages and supports
physical activity.
- Parents' involvement in modifying obese children's behavior
is important in losing weight. Parents who model healthful eating
and activity habits can have a significant positive influence
on the health of their children.
To learn more about AHA
guidelines, link to the Heart and Stroke A-Z Guide on their website.
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What Can a Teacher Do About Nutrition In the
Classroom?
Nutrition curricula should focus on promoting and teaching children
the following goals:
- Expand the variety of foods in their diet.
- Add more fruits, vegetables, and grains to the foods they
already eat.
- Eat foods in their diet that are lower in fat.
According to the USDA, the need for these changes is illustrated
by the fact that:
- 35% of elementary school-age children eat no fruit, and 20%
eat no vegetables on a given day;
- 27% of children ages 6-11 are considered obese;
- and 90% of children consume fat above the recommended level.
The American Dietetic
Association is also a great resource for information that can
be used for classroom instruction. |
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