6/2/08 Weekly Report: Exercise is Medicine – An Initiative to Make Americans More Active; Hawai`i Island Community Group Collects Backpacks for our Homeless Neighbors

The following article is courtesy of Carrie Kuwada Phipps of the State Department of Health, based in Kona. Excerpts of her article originally appeared in West Hawaii Today and are provided as a public service.

We’re all aware of the health crisis facing our nation in terms of the rising rates of obesity, childhood obesity and the chronic diseases that result from poor nutritional habits and the lack of physical activity.

Part of this timely wake-up call is the launching of a breakthrough initiative sponsored by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the American Medical Association (AMA).

Entitled Exercise is Medicine, this initiative is designed to encourage Americans to incorporate physical activity and exercise into their daily routine and calls on our nation’s doctors to prescribe exercise to each and every one of their patients.

What does Exercise is Medicine aim to do?

The goal of the Exercise is Medicine program is to encourage all physicians to record physical activity as a vital sign during patient visits. Able-bodied patients will be advised to participate in at least 30 minutes of physical activity and 10 minutes of stretching and light muscle training 5 days a week.

Dr. Robert Sallis, a California physician from Kaiser Permanente who recently became president of the American College of Sports Medicine, says that physicians “have a moral responsibility to inform patients of the danger of inactivity and the health benefits of being more active”.

A Sedentary Society

According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than half of all Americans fail to get the 30 minutes of physical activity recommended daily. Our current lifestyle involving cars, elevators, computers, video games, and remote controls contribute to eliminating physical activity from our daily lives.

Long commutes and extended work days also contribute to this problem.

In fact, physical inactivity has become one of the most pressing public health problems of this day and age.

Sedentary Death Syndrome

So many people are inactive that some experts have coined a new term for the epidemic: Sedentary Death Syndrome. This condition helps cut short an estimated 250,000 lives in the U.S. each year. Research also indicates that people who are sedentary spend on average about $1,500 more each year on medical bills than do their more-active counterparts. Studies also show that they miss more work and are not as productive.

Physical activity is key to staying healthy

It’s a fact that regular physical activity greatly reduces the risk of dying from coronary heart disease which remains the leading cause of death in the United States.

Physical activity also reduces the risk of developing diabetes, hypertension and colon cancer.

It also enhances mental health (keeps your mind sharp, prevents dementia and depression).

It fosters healthy muscles, bones and joints, and helps maintain body functions and helps maintain independence in older adults.

Fitness as the world’s best drug

Exercise truly is medicine. According to Jake Steinfeld, chairman of the California Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, “Fitness is the greatest drug in the world”. I recently attended the American College of Sports Medicine Southwest Chapter meeting in November and got to hear Dr. Sallis’ presentation: Exercise is Medicine; The Health Benefits of Physical Activity in person.

Some of the amazing facts that he stated include:

180 minutes of physical activity per week is as effective as Prozac in treating depression
Exercise is more effective than angioplasty and drugs for cardiovascular disease
Increased attention, memory, cognitive abilities (increased SAT scores) in California students tested.

The list of benefits goes on.

Dr. Sallis also noted that Type 2 diabetes is a nationwide scourge that will strain our economy to the breaking point unless we increase physical activity levels to help reverse this trend.

Sallis said: “Even the sickest patients in the hospital get out quicker if they get out of bed and walk during their hospital stay. There’s no doubt that with any disease, exercise benefits it.”

A sustainable national initiative

Exercise is Medicine is envisioned as a sustainable national initiative that will lead to overall improvement in the public’s health and long-term reduction in healthcare costs. It will accomplish this by first of all creating broad awareness that exercise is indeed medicine. It will also encourage physicians and other healthcare providers to be physically active themselves.

Believing that healthy eating habits go hand-in-hand with physical activity, Harvard Medical School and the Culinary Institute of America teamed up to teach physicians how to cook more healthfully. Two-hundred health professionals were in attendance to learn how to cook whole grains, salads and healthier desserts.

Beyond involving physicians, other health care providers and patients in their physical activity needs, this Exercise is Medicine initiative will also lead to policy changes in the public and private sectors that support physical activity counseling and referrals in clinical settings.

Such a change has already been implemented in the state of California, where the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports recently launched an initiative to give doctors forms that resemble a standard pad of prescriptions.

Instead of specifying medication, they prescribe physical activity.

Exercise definitely is Medicine. We hope this timely wake-up call will help all of us move more healthfully and economically sound into our future.

You can find additional information, program elements, advocacy tools, and resource support at the Exercise is Medicine website: http://www.exerciseismedicine.org/about.htm .

Location of Project	Council District	Work being done
Laupahoehoe Transfer Station	1	Fence and gate installation, in progress
Puako Transfer Station	9	HI5 glasscrete pad, in progress
Honomu Transfer Station	1	Install access ramp 5/20/08
Waiea Transfer Station	6	Install access ramp 5/28/08
Hilo Regional Transfer Stations	2,3,4,5	Sign installations out to bid
Kona Regional Transfer Stations	6,7,8	Sign installations out to bid