|
|
How much exercise do you need to do to protect your health? Two recent research papers provide very different answers.
Several weeks ago, information in this column reported on the different physical activity recommendations that exist for the public. Some experts advocate 'moderate lifestyle' activities. Other experts argue for a public health prescription of more vigorous exercise. Two recent research papers intensify this discussion even further.
Intensity does not matter:
A prospective study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that the time people spent walking (but NOT the intensity at which they walked) predicted lower coronary heart disease risk. Participants in this study were approximately 40000 women over the age of 45 years. Notably, the amount of walking needed for health benefits was quite low - 60 minutes per week! This is certainly lower than the threshold amount (30 minutes per day) specified in current public health guidelines on physical activity.
Intensity matters:
A very interesting review article on the validity of current exercise guidelines concludes that the intensity of physical activity is MOST important. The authors of this paper believe that an increase in aerobic fitness (not simply the higher daily caloric expenditure resulting from being physically active) is more likely to provide protection from chronic disease.
How does one achieve increases in aerobic fitness? The suggestions in this paper are both interesting, and controversial. The authors state there is little evidence to support long duration training (e.g, 30 minutes or more) at a relatively high intensity as being necessary to improve aerobic capacity. The authors propose a "time-efficient threshold theory" - short duration, high intensity work that will improve aerobic fitness and thus provide health benefits. An example of a weekly exercise program for a fit person:
One 10-min session PER WEEK (any cardiovascular modality) involving 4 minutes of exercise at 75-85% of heart rate, following a 3 minute warm up. A 4 minute warm down would follow.
A 15-20 minute resistance training program performed twice per week (the authors argue increases in strength/muscle mass promote increased aerobic capacity).
In short, intensity matters. Does 10 minutes of cardiovascular exercise sound far-fetched? Read the article if you can. It is thoughtful, well-researched, and has strong implications for public health exercise prescription, should the tenets of their theory be tested and supported.
The major concern with the brevity of time they recommend people exercising is the ignoring of the increased caloric expenditure that accompanies exercise programs of longer duration. This is important from a weight control perspective.
The article is not online, but can be found in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine, (2000), 22(3): 237-245. Richard Winett and Ralph Carpinelli are the authors.
|
Gold West Country
Gold West Country is a great place to bring your whole family. Whether you want to fish, camp, or explore historical sites, you'll be sure to have fun. There are some additional activities your family will love to try. Pan for gold or spend a day rockhounding, or hire on as a ranch hand and ride with real cowboys on the range. This is a web site worth checking out with summer coming up!
|
Please let your colleagues know about PELINKS4U, and remember you can catch up on a year's worth of news in our PE Archives.
|
|  |
|
The Threat of Video Games
Will efforts to increase youth physical activity succeed? It is difficult to answer "yes." The allure of video games to children seems insurmountable.
What will it take to entice youth away from video games and into backyards, parks and playing fields? Such an important question deserves a definitive and confident answer from those individuals, including myself, who are involved in promoting youth physical activity. Unfortunately, there seems no apparent answer to the pervasive and permanent threat of video games to the time children decide to spend playing outdoors. Indeed, the outlook for increasing after school activity levels of the nations youth is bleak. For many children, the choice to play the latest video game instead of kicking a ball around outside, is an easy one.
Video games have a strangle-hold on youth leisure time. The marketing of video games, their access and affordability, and their inherent appeal (particularly to males) makes the video game industry a juggernaut in the quest for consumer recreational time. The industry earned $7.4 billion in 1999, and is expected to overtake revenue from movie ticket sales this year. Playstation, Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, and PC-based video games (and the expected release of Microsoft X-Box next year) offer fun, challenge, and escapism. These outcomes and feelings were once, perhaps exclusively, provided to children by physical play. Now, two decades after first being 'space invaded', the playing of video games has replaced exercise and sports as the thing many kids like to do... hour after hour, day after day, week after week.
Video games pose an ominous threat to the future health of the nation's children. There is no obvious answer as to how exercise might again become fashionable for children in the after-school hours.
Given this situation, I urge those involved in youth activity promotion to focus their efforts on the hours children spend in-school. Specifically, the persistent advocacy of mandatory, structured, regular, and enjoyable school physical education.
Video-games may have pilfered after school recreational hours, but much can be done to protect children's current and future health with the implementation of a sound and sensible school curriculum that involves daily physical education.
Darren Dale
Health and Fitness Section Editor
|
|
Failure after long perseverance is much grander than never to have a striving good enough to be called a failure.
~ George Eliot ~
|
|
|
Without question, parks and other outdoor recreational facilities are essential to the promotion of physically active lifestyles for all people. How can you help? Check out this site that aims to "transform the world of parks and recreation".
|
|
If you have ideas, comments, letters to share, or questions about particular topics, please email one of the following Section Editors:
|
|
Help to support quality physical education and health education by contributing to this site.
|
|
|
Drink orange juice, not sodas!
Orange juice is an excellent source of vitamin C and calcium (if fortified). Efforts by parents to provide children with juice (100% juice, check the label) are important to ensure a diet that is healthy and nutritious for children.
Unfortunately, parents buy far more soda for their children than they buy orange juice. A recent report in the medical journal "The Lancet" stated that for every additional serving per day of soda consumed, the risk of becoming obese increased by about 50 percent.
The warnings from this study linking soda to obesity, should be heeded. Not only do the higher caloric sodas contribute to children and teens becoming overweight, but they are consumed in place of the more nutritious orange juice, thus lessening a child's intake of vitamin C.
Helping Your Overweight Child
In the United States at least one child in five is overweight, and the number of overweight children continues to grow. Over the last 2 decades, this number has increased by more than 50 percent, and the number of "extremely" overweight children has nearly doubled.
|
|
Find breaking news, reports on illnesses, and interactive tools on diet assessment and other health-related areas at Healtheon.
Looking for wellness advice and resources from both conventional and alternative medicine? Check out Wellweb.
One of the best fitness sites we have seen: Active.com featuring event registration and locator, club connections, and online coaching, for an abundance of different sports and activities.
Another of the many sites to help you plan your caloric intake and nutrient requirements. Also check out the caloric content of fast food restaurants. Visit at cyberdiet.com.
|
Most Valuable Dad
Article: written by Erik Ness
Sports and the newly minted father often seem at odds.
Are You at Risk for Heart Disease?
Ready to start a heart-smart lifestyle? This quiz will help you evaluate your personal risk factors. To get a more accurate score, you are encouraged to have your blood-cholesterol level checked. When you know your blood-cholesterol level and your risk of heart disease, you will have the two most important pieces of information you need to embark on a heart-smart lifestyle. Take this online quiz at women.com
Are You a Healthy Eater?
Ever wonder if your eating habits need improving? Take this quick test and find out if you are a "pig" or a "pigeon".
How can I protect my family's heart health?
Read this article to find out what you can do to help protect your family's heart health.
What are the best steps to heart health?
Here are the steps to take to protect your own, and your family's hearts.
How does stress affect my heart?
Find out how excess stress in your life increases your chances of heart attack and stroke.
What are the warning signs of heart attack?
This is an article well worth reading, for some people may experience no symptoms.
|
|
