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(October 22, 2008)

Everybody active


From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Taekwondo is Mark Lopez’ favored physical activity. He got a silver medal in the martial art at the Beijing Olympics. His brother, Steve, and his sister, Diana, also medaled – the first U.S. siblings to do that at the same Olympics.


But Mark Lopez was taking a broader view at the launch of the new Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. The recommendations cover almost every age group and a wide variety of physical conditions. And they suggest finding an activity you enjoy.

Lopez likes that:

``Just going for a simple walk on a nice day, riding a bike, rollerblading, playing tag or whatever. Swimming is not so much impact on the joints. So all those activities are a lot of fun and easy to do.’’ (10 seconds)

And physical activity has health benefits – the more you do, the better you may be.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: October, 21 2008