Focus On How, Not Why To Increase Physical Activity

Most people know that exercise is important to maintain and improve health; however, sedentary lifestyles and obesity rates are at all-time highs and have become major national issues. In a new study, University of Missouri researchers found that healthy adults who received interventions focused on behavior-changing strategies significantly increased their physical activity levels. Conversely, interventions based on cognitive approaches, which try to change knowledge and attitudes, did not improve physical activity.

"The focus needs to shift from increasing knowledge about the benefits of exercise to discussing strategies to change behaviors and increase activity levels," said Vicki Conn, associate dean for research and Potter-Brinton professor in the MU Sinclair School of Nursing. "The common approach is to try and change people's attitudes or beliefs about exercise and why it's important, but that information isn't motivating. We can't 'think' ourselves into being more active."

Behavior strategies include feedback, goal setting, self-monitoring, exercise prescription and stimulus or cues. Self-monitoring, any method where participants record and track their activity over time, appears to significantly increase awareness and provide motivation for improvement, Conn said.

"Health care providers should ask patients about their exercise habits and help them set specific, manageable goals," Conn said. "Ask them to try different strategies, such as tracking their progress, scheduling exercise on their phones or calendars, or placing their pedometers by their clothes. Discuss rewards for accomplishing goals."

The study, featured in the American Journal of Public Health, incorporated data from 358 reports and 99,011 participants. The researchers identified behavioral strategies were most effective in increasing physical activity among healthy adults. Successful interventions were delivered face-to-face instead of mediated (i.e. via telephone, mail, etc.) and targeted individuals instead of communities.

"The thought of exercise may be overwhelming, but slowly increasing activity by just 10 minutes a day adds up weekly and is enough to provide health benefits," Conn said. "Even small increases in physical activity will enhance protection against chronic illnesses, including heart disease and diabetes. Preventing or delaying chronic disease will reduce complications, health care costs and overall burden."

Previously, Conn completed a meta-analysis of interventions for chronically ill patients and found similar results. Conn found that interventions were similarly effective regardless of gender, age, ethnicity and socioeconomic status.

The study, "Interventions to increase physical activity among healthy adults: Meta-analysis of outcomes," is featured in this month's issue of the American Journal of Public Health. Conn's research is funded by a more than $1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.

 

U.S. Call For Improved Nutrition And Physical Activity Supported By Gerontological Society of America

The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) - the nation's largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging - commends the federal government's recent release of the "2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans" and particularly applauds its inclusion of specific advice for older adults.

Because more than one-third of children and more than two-thirds of adults in the U.S. are overweight or obese, the 7th edition of "Dietary Guidelines for Americans," issued by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services, places stronger emphasis on reducing calorie consumption and increasing physical activity.

"Good nutrition is an integral component of successful aging," said GSA President Donald Ingram, PhD. "The benefits of a healthy diet and regular physical activity may include a more robust immune system, higher energy levels, faster recuperation times, sharper mental acuity, and better management of chronic health problems."

In Boston this November, GSA's Annual Scientific Meeting - under the theme of "Lifestyle -Lifespan" - will explore nutrition and aging in greater detail. Numerous sessions are scheduled to focus on the healthy gut, anorexia, obesity, antioxidant supplements, calorie restriction, brain foods, women's nutrition, and nutrition among long-lived populations.

Moreover, numerous studies reported in GSA's peer-reviewed scientific journals have tied obesity to poor health outcomes for America's seniors. A January 2010 special issue of The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological and Medical Sciences described many of the negative consequences, even showing that the adverse affects of being overweight are not limited to physical function but also extend to neurological function.

"Dietary Guidelines for Americans" makes several age-based recommendations. Individuals aged 50 years and older are encouraged to consume food fortified with vitamin B12, such as fortified cereals or dietary supplements. Additionally, people aged 51 and older are advised to reduce their sodium intake to 1,500 milligrams per day.

For women aged 51 and over, the government recommends a daily intake of between 1,600 and 2,200 calories depending on physical activity level, and for men aged 51 and over, a daily intake of between 2,000 and 2,800 calories depending on physical activity level.

Adults aged 65 years and older who are overweight are encouraged not to gain additional weight. Among older adults who are obese, particularly those with cardiovascular disease risk factors, intentional weight loss can be beneficial and result in improved quality of life and reduced risk of chronic diseases and associated disabilities, according to the new report.

In regard to physical activity, the government states that older adults should follow the standard adult guidelines, noting that seniors should be as physically active as their abilities and conditions will allow. Similarly, they are also advised to do exercises that maintain or improve balance if they are at risk of falling. Those with chronic conditions should understand if and how their conditions affect their ability to do regular physical activity safely.

Source:
Todd Kluss
The Gerontological Society of America

Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.

All opinions are moderated before being added.

Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.

If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.

Contact Our News Editors

For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.

Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:

View the original article here

Study Links Physical Activity To Political Participation

How is going for a jog like voting for president? As far as our brains are concerned, physical activity and political activity are two sides of the same coin. Scientists found that people who live in more active states are also more likely to vote. And in an experiment, volunteers who were exposed to active words like "go" and "move" said they were more likely to vote than did people who saw words like "relax" and "stop."

The study was inspired by research showing that brains lump all kinds of activity together. For instance, a message that's meant to promote fitness - physical activity - can also trigger people to eat more - another kind of activity, and with the exact opposite result. Kenji Noguchi of the University of Southern Mississippi, Ian M. Handley of Montana State University, and Dolores Albarracín of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign were inspired by the 2008 presidential election to see if the same was true for political activity.

For a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, the researchers pulled together data on how often people exercise, diabetes rates, obesity, and use of amphetamines and other stimulants, to create an "action-tendency index" for the 50 states. They ranked states, from the movers and shakers of Colorado, Alaska, and Oregon to slower-paced Mississippi, West Virginia, and Tennessee. The states' ranking for physical activity roughly corresponded with voter turnout in the 2004 election.

The researchers also tested this link with experiments. In one experiment before the 2008 election, students completed words with some letters missing - so they were exposed to words like "go" and "active" or "relax" and "paralyze." Students who had encountered active words were more likely to say they would vote in the presidential election than students who worked with words like "freeze."

This link to physical activity could be used to encourage people to vote, says Albarracín. "It could be anything from promoting voting in a sports context to connecting voting to a self-help context that encourages being proactive - that's a big audience that's thinking about how to improve their own lives and may not otherwise think of doing so politically. This might be easier than getting politically naïve or uninvolved people to vote because they care about politics per se."

Source:
Keri Chiodo
Association for Psychological Science

Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.

All opinions are moderated before being added.

Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.

If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.

Contact Our News Editors

For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.

Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:

View the original article here

Less Activity, More Food, Driving Up Male Obesity In UK

Being less active and eating more food has led to the average UK male weighing over a stone more in 2000 than he did in 1986, reflecting a rising trend in obesity rates.

This was the conclusion of a British Heart Foundation-funded study led by Dr Peter Scarborough of the Department of Public Health at Oxford University and published in the British Journal of Nutrition.

It reflects a rising trend in obesity rates: 25 per cent of men in England were classed as obese in 2008, compared with only 7 per cent in 1986/87.

A BHF representative described the finding as a "ticking time bomb".

Bigger men are at higher risk of heart disease and other chronic illnesses.

BHF Associate Medical Director Dr Mike Knapton told the press that:

"Obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes, heart disease and stroke and contributes to premature death and poor quality of life."

"This research suggests a ticking time bomb for male health, and underlines the importance of both regular exercise and a balanced diet in keeping your weight down and your heart healthy," he added.

Scarborough and his team from the BHF Health Promotion Research Group at the University of Oxford examined data on body weight and food consumption over a 15 year period from 1986 to 2000.

By comparing food availability and taking into account what is thrown away and wasted, they calculated that the average UK adult ate more in 2000 than he or she did in 1986.

Scarborough told the press that:

"It's clear people are eating more, and today we're seeing a continued increase in the amount of food available."

From the calculated increase in food intake, they worked out that the average adult male in the UK in the year 2000 would weigh 4.7 kg (10.3lb) more than he did in 1986.

But the observed increase in weight of the average UK male over that period was 7.7 kg: much more than could be explained by increased food intake alone.

So they concluded that a reduction in physical activity, as well as the extra food, was the reason behind the dramatic rise in weight of the average UK male.

Women in the UK have also put on more weight, but this can be explained by extra food consumption alone: the researchers calculated an expected weight gain of 5.4 kg (11.9 lb) from increased food intake, which was much the same as the observed weight gain of the average UK female from 1986 to 2000, according to a BBC report on the research.

Speculating on the reasons behind the reduction in exercise of the average UK male, Scarborough said:

"One partial explanation could be that men spend more of their working lives sitting at desks now - manual careers are less common than they used to be."

Commenting on the findings, a spokesman for the National Obesity Forum told the Guardian newspaper that the problem of obesity is going to get worse because not enough is being done to regulate the amount of fat, sugar and salt in processed foods.

British Journal of Nutrition.

Sources: University of Oxford, British Heart Foundation, Guardian, BBC.

Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.

posted by john donkey on 28 Dec 2010 at 12:45 am

Refer to Title. I mean really? I could have told you this for free, but for some reason obesity scientists feel a need to spend millions of pounds (pun intended) to come to this astonishing conclusion all on thier own

| post followup | alert a moderator |

All opinions are moderated before being added.

Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.

If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.

Contact Our News Editors

For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.

Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:

View the original article here