The US Department of Health and Human Services recently released its new guidelines for physical activity, and I wanted to take this opportunity to discuss them. I’m going to review their summary since the actual guidelines are hundreds of pages. However, If anyone is interested, I’m going to include links to both the summary and the full guidelines at the end of this post.
The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans provide comprehensive science-based guidance on physical activity for Americans. Inspired by President Bush’s personal dedication to physical fitness and his desire that every American have access to science-based guidelines, HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt appointed a 13-member Physical Activity Guideline Advisory Committee to review and analyze current scientific literature. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans published by HHS are based on the 683-page report submitted by the advisory committee.
Ok, so far so good. This is definitely a good start, although I find it amusing that the report was 683 pages.
The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans are designed so that people can customize them to suit their lifestyle and include activities they enjoy. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans contain examples of activities for different age groups and those with special considerations. A shorter companion guide, Be Active Your Way, helps adults develop a customized plan to suit their lifestyle and physical activity goals.
Hey, this is good so far. I love the fact that they get it. Every person is different and what we need and like may not be the same. So it’s good that these exercise guidelines are customizable per person. In fact, if you read the in depth guides, you’ll see a lot of suggestions on how to customize them to suit your needs.
Health benefits of physical activity occur for children and adolescents, young and middle-aged adults, older adults, and those in every studied racial and ethnic group.
Wow, now I’m really impressed. This is a point that needs to be made over and over. EVERYONE can benefit from physical exercise. It’s not just for young adults, men or whatever group you think belongs in a gym. Physical activity is for everyone.
Regular physical activity improves health for young and old and reduces the risk of disease. With regular physical activity, children and adolescents improve their cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness and bone health, and reduce symptoms of depression. Adults and older adults lower the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, colon and breast cancer and can help prevent falls and reduce depression. Older adults also enjoy better thinking ability with regular physical activity. Regular physical activity also helps people with arthritis or other rheumatic conditions affecting the joints by improving pain management, function, and quality of life.
Again, very well said. Too many people see physical activity as just a way to look good and tone up their butt. Guess what, there’s a lot more to it. Regular activity helps with everything from chronic conditions like arthritis to cancer prevention and better mental capacity.
Some physical activity is better than none; the more physically active you are, the more benefits you reap. For most health outcomes, additional benefits occur as the amount of physical activity increases through higher intensity, greater frequency, and/or longer duration.
Can it be? An actual government press release which makes sense and doesn’t contain too much spin? Again, this statement is spot on. Even a little physical activity is better than none. So even if you can’t meet all the minimums, it’s still beneficial to do something.
Children and adolescents should participate in one hour or more of physical activity per day; and most of the activity should be moderate or vigorous aerobic physical activity. They should participate in vigorous physical activity at least three days a week. They should participate in muscle-strengthening activities, such as push-ups and sit-ups and playing tug-of-war, three days a week. They should incorporate bone-strengthening activities, such as jumping rope, hopping or running, at least three days a week.
Don’t be fooled, kids can get most if not all of this exercise in a couple of hours on the playground. So there’s really no need to send a child to the gym if they’re getting plenty of time to play outdoors with other kids. However, I do like the fact that the summary gives a bit of information on how much and what types of exercise kids should do. The detailed guides contain even more useful information.
Adults gain substantial health benefits from two and one half hours a week of moderate aerobic physical activity or an hour and 15 minutes of vigorous physical activity. Aerobic activity, such as walking briskly, water aerobics, ballroom dancing, jogging, and jumping rope, should be performed in episodes of at least 10 minutes. Increasing aerobic physical activity to five hours a week of moderate activity or two and one half hours a week of vigorous aerobic physical activity, results in more extensive health benefits. Adults should do muscle-strengthening activities, such as weight training, push-ups, sit-ups, carrying heavy loads and heavy gardening, at least two days a week.
This is great. Again, whoever wrote this should be immediately promoted to write all other government documentation. It’s brief but contains enough information to be useful. It’s also very accurate. I like how it recommends both brisk (cardio) activities as well as muscle strengthening exercises. This is something many people ignore, usually focusing too much on either cardio or weights.
Older adults generally should follow the guidelines for adults. If chronic conditions limit their ability to do two and one half hours a week of moderate aerobic activity, they should be as physically active as their abilities and conditions allow.
Yep, this is good advice again. It doesn’t matter how old you are, the guidelines still apply to you. Too many older folks are stuck in the mindset that they are too old for the gym or too old for weight or too old for cardio. That’s dead wrong. You’re never too old.
Be safe as well as active. Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans include tips for safe physical activity. Some examples are choosing activities appropriate for current fitness level and health goals; increasing physical activity gradually over time to meet guidelines or health goals; and using appropriate gear and sports equipment and looking for safe environments.
and hey, let’s finish things up with a bit of good safety advice. If you want more details on this you’re going to need to read the full guides, which contain a lot of useful safety information.
Summary
This is a one page summary of the new health guidelines. In fact, it’s pretty much a press release. However, I am amazed by how useful and accurate it is. This is what all government press releases should be like.
Here’s the link to the summary
And here’s the link to the actual guides
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I’m a pretty cynical person when it comes to our government, but I have to say that these guidelines are well written and very useful. If you have the time, take a look through them. Even I found a lot of useful advice in there and I think they’re even more useful for people just now starting out with exercise.
