by David Garred,
Club Manager Dusit Resort Sports Club.
G’Day readers, welcome back to Fitness Tips.
This week we will be taking our final look at the U.S.
Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity & Health.
So far we have discovered that the absence of Physical
Activity in our lives is detrimental even to the point of being dangerous to
our health. The we went on to look at what is Physical Activity and how do
we incorporate it into our lives.
Let me revise this for you: There are many ways to
achieve MODERATE amounts of Physical Activity; gardening, bicycling 5 miles,
raking leaves, each for 30 minutes is Moderate. Also washing & waxing your
car for 45 minutes or stair climbing for 15 can be classed as Moderate
amounts of physical activity.
Remember that those of you who have chronic health
problems or if you are male and over the age of 40 or females over the age
of 50 it is well and truly within your best interests to consult a Physician
before starting an exercise programme.
Now for the new stuff (yes, this “ stuff “ is a technical
term).
Please remember that this report was made for the
American public. So when you read specific references to them (if you aren’t
one) then please just substitute “Western society” because it applies to all
of us.
Status of the Nation- A need for
change.
ADULTS:
* More than 60% of adults do not achieve the recom-mended
amount of physical activity. 25 % of all adults are not active at all.
* Inactivity increases with age and is more common among
women than men and among those with lower income and less education than
those with higher income and education.
ADOLESCENTS & YOUNG ADULTS:
* Nearly half of all young people aged 12 to 21 are not
vigorously active on a regular basis.
* Physical activity declines dramatically with age during
adolescence.
* Female adolescents are much less physically active than
male adolescents.
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS:
In high school, enrolment in daily physical education
classes dropped from 42% in 1991 to 25% in 1995.
* Only 19% of all high school students are physically
active for 20 minutes or more in physical education classes every day during
the school week.
Ideas for Improvement.
This report identified promising ways to help people
include more physical activity in their daily lives.
* Well designed programmes in schools and the community
as a whole to increase physical activity in physical education classes have
been shown to be effective.
* Carefully planned counsel-ling by health care providers
and worksite activity program-mes can increase individuals’ physical
activity levels.
Special Messages for Special
Populations.
The report also includes information for special
populations, including older adults, parents, teenagers, dieters, people
with high blood pressure, people with high anxiety levels, deeply depressed
or moody people, people with arthritis & other disabilities. Obviously this
is a fairly broad cross section of the community and frankly it would take
at least the next 6 weeks for me to discuss the best way to get around each
of the groups’ set of problems. The best idea for anyone who fits into any
of these categories is for you to go and get some advice from your doctor
first, or go see your local Professional Fitness Instructor - this is what
they are trained for, to help people improve the quality of all our lives.
I normally finish my articles with a simple
statement/request/directive, this is Carpe’ Diem. It translates into English
as Seize the Day.
Seize the Day means don’t put off for later what you can
do NOW. It means that if you want to improve the quality of your life, NOW
is the time to start doing something about it.
Life, be in it. Don’t just be an observer.
Carpe’ Diem
