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Behavior Change and Health News

Breaking Down Barriers

The following article is reprinted with permission from Y Life Magazine, a 40-page, bimonthly magazine for adult YMCA members at participating YMCAs. The complementary Web site, www.ylifemagazine.com, contains articles from the magazine as well as supplementary content, health tools, and a store offering products to enrich your active life.

By Claire C. Avant, MPH, The Cooper Institute

These days, most of us get far too little physical activity. We drive almost everywhere. We drop our children off at school, where they often eat lunch out of vending machines and no longer attend PE classes. The few steps we used to take from our cars to the door have been eliminated and replaced with drive-throughs. On the rare occasion that we do have to get out of our cars, it’s usually to trek across a parking lot designed to minimize the distance to the door. Elevators, escalators, and moving sidewalks get us from point A to point B and, at work, we hardly leave our seats in front of the computer. It’s no wonder Americans’ health is suffering from poor diets and inactivity, which often lead to chronic illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease.

We live in a world of convenience that has been built around our fast-paced culture and our need to be in six places at once. In the back of our minds, we know that increased physical activity is good for us and can help us live longer and be healthier. But with all that we are expected to accomplish in a day, who has time to worry about physical activity? The truth is there are many easy ways to do physical activity every day without drastically changing our lives. We just have to be creative and learn to make physical activity part of our routines, like setting the alarm clock and brushing our teeth.

Exercise During Your Commute

The Challenge: We’ve all heard the story about how our grandparents walked six miles every day up mountains and through the snow to get to school. As extreme as this sounds, it was true for many of our ancestors. Today, however, many parents are worried about unsafe walking routes, unsafe neighborhoods, and unsavory people, so children don’t even walk a few blocks, much less a few miles. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the majority of parents and children take the bus or drive even short distances to school and work.

The Solution: In some communities, parents have started a phenomenon known as a “walking school bus.” Each walking school bus has at least one adult “driver” who “picks up” other children on the way to school. The parents and children walk together in a group to and from school. It’s a fun and safe way for parents to get their children to school, for children to learn about safety, and for parents and children to be more physically active.

Similarly, biking to work or school is another way to incorporate physical activity into our day. Many cities have invested in bike lanes and trails, making it easy and safe for parents and children to get to school or work by bike. In cities with few sidewalks or heavy traffic, this may not be an option, but talking to community leaders about creating neighborhoods that encourage healthy lifestyles is.

If you can’t walk or bike to school or work, you can create opportunities for physical activity. Taking a few extra steps by getting off the bus early or parking farther away from the building is an easy way to get exercise.

Exercise at Work

The Challenge: With increased use of computers, being sedentary during the workday is standard for most Americans. E-mail has also cut down on the need to physically go to colleagues to conduct business.

The Solution: There are plenty of ways to be active while at work, and you can get your 30 minutes of recommended physical activity during the workday.

• Take the stairs instead of the elevators or escalators. Stair climbing is a great aerobic activity (good for hearts and lungs) and also is a weight-bearing activity, so it helps to build strong bones.
• Go out of your way. Get in extra steps by walking to the coffee maker or the bathroom that is farthest away from your desk. Instead of e-mailing or calling your co-worker, get up and walk down the hall to talk to her.
• Take a walk. Get physically active while getting to know co-workers by forming a walking group. Map out a walking route within or around the building and set a schedule to meet and take a walk together.

You don’t have to get your 30 minutes of daily exercise all at once. You can break up that time. For example, taking three 10-minute walks throughout the day provides the same health benefits as one 30-minute walk.

Exercise at Home

The Challenge: At home, television has contributed greatly to the inactive lifestyle of most Americans. According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), the average American child spends 5.5 hours a day watching TV, using the computer, and playing video games. Adults watch an average of 2.2 hours of television per day, according to the National Association for Sport and Physical Education. Children and adults who watch excessive television are at a considerably higher risk of becoming overweight or obese.

The Solution: There are plenty of ways to get active at home.

• Although watching TV is a sedentary activity, you can make the time more active. During commercials, see how many sit-ups or push-ups you can do or walk in place until your show starts again.
• On Saturday mornings, limit your kids’ cartoon watching time. Pop in an exercise tape for children and get moving with your little ones. Or turn on the radio and start a living-room dance contest.
• Work in the yard. Raking leaves, mowing the lawn with a push mower, and gardening are great ways to exercise.
• Clean the house. It counts as aerobic activity.
• Walk the dog. It’s good for you and the dog.

Being physically active doesn’t mean that we all have to run a marathon or hike up Mount Everest. Making small changes in daily physical activity can have a big effect on our overall health. With a little extra effort, we can all look and feel better in no time.

More Ways to Get Active

Ready to become more active every day? Consider Active Living Every Day, a course developed by the renowned Cooper Institute that focuses on helping sedentary people become and stay physically active for life. This evidence-based course uses established behavior change models, such as the stages of readiness to change, to empower people to overcome their barriers to physical activity. Participants find ways to fit physical activity into their daily lives and maintain active lifestyles even when difficult life situations arise. For more information on the course and to find a provider near you, go to www.ActiveLiving.info.