Scientists urge that the patient physical should now include this advice: 'Get off the sofa and g...( APS). An Alarming Profile of Ame...)

An Alarming Profile of American In-Activity The activity profile for America is alarming:

Approximately 70 percent of American adults do not understand physical activity or are underactive, and nearly half of this countrys youth (12-21 years) are not vigorously active on a regular basis.

A documented decline in physical activity has been correlated with a sharp rise in television viewing hours. Such sedentary behavior in children is believed to translate into an identical lifestyle as an adult.

The sedentary lifestyle among young people has led to a doubling of childhood obesity rates in the last 20 years.

A sedentary adult is at greater risk for chronic heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, colon cancer, and hypertension. Although many of these chronic heath conditions do not begin until middle age, the biochemical or cardiovascular risk factors can be found in 60 percent of obese children.

Aging Americans who settle for a life of bed rest may be signing on to an early death warrant. A recent study found that three weeks of continuous bed rest by healthy volunteers was associated with muscle wasting, bone loss, insulin resistance, a reduction in cardiac output, and decreased immune function.

The Causes
Avoidance of activity may be linked to a negative connotation of the word exercise, which many associate with pain and discomfort.

While the US gene pool has not significantly changed in the last ten years, rates for obesity have soared. The main cause associated with the changes in rates is environmental change. A documented decline in physical activity has been correlated with a sharp rise in television viewing hours.

Unfortunately, obesity is only the beginning of the body's problems. Genes that evolved to be used by physically active humans cannot easily adapt to the sedentary lifestyle. The sedentary individual cannot oxidize enough food to keep their genes from
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Contact: Donna Krupa
djkrupa1@aol.com
703-527-7357
American Physiological Society
13-Feb-2002