Lowering the Exercise Bar, Raising the Numbers on the Scale?
Last week, the DHHS changed the guidelines for physical activity from 30 minutes of moderate activity 5 days a week to just a total of 2 1/2 hours total per week. A reported in the Washington Post, in order to fit into American's busy lifestyles, changing the recommendations means that people can now fit their physical activity into longer sessions and get the same benefits as shorter ones--and still feel as though they are meeting their goals.
But what about all the data that suggests that "weekend warriors"--those folks who don't work out all week but then attempt to run 10 miles on the weekend--are prone to more injuries? Or what about the fact that when exercise is not part of a daily routine it is all the easier just to "forget" about it and for it to fall completely out of one's lifestyle?
Moreover, not integrating healthy, routine physical fitness into people's lifestyles suggests that it is just an "every once in a while" thing--and that behavior can ultimately have an effect on the waistline. Not to mention that physical fitness is just one part of a multifaceted puzzle when we are talking about battling the obesity epidemic.
DHHS should think carefully about how they promote this new message about physical fitness for Americans. The impact could be long lasting and permanently seen right around our midsections.
Summer Johnson, PhD
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