HHS HealthBeat (January 06, 2009)

Active enough?

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

It looks like we’re stuck. About one third of American adults don’t do even the minimum physical activity needed for a health benefit. The proportion hasn’t changed for decades, and a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reflects it.

CDC researcher Fleetwood Loustalot notes there are new federal guidelines on how much activity people should have. The guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity activities such as walking, or at least 75 minutes a week of vigorous activities such as jogging. Or you can do a combination.

But Loustalot points out there’s more to life than walking and jogging, if neither of those look like fun:

[Fleetwood Loustalot speaks] ``The first is finding activities that you enjoy. The second is finding a partner to go along with you to help maintain motivation.’’

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: January, 06 2009