EACH YEAR 300,000 DIE FROM OBESITY RELATED ILLNESSES

By Andy Summa

Obesity is reaching epidemic proportions, affecting millions of people every year. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 300,000 Americans now die each year from obesity-related illnesses.

Reducing obesity has traditionally focused on lowering caloric intake by dieting, but there is growing evidence that exercise deprivation is also a major contributor to obesity. With metabolic systems shaped by 4 million years of highly active hunting and gathering, many people may not be able to maintain a healthy body weight without regular exercise, according to the Worldwatch Institute.

Surveys show that 57 percent of Americans exercise only occasionally or not at all, a number that corresponds closely with the share of the population that is overweight.

Economic modernization has systematically eliminated exercise from our lives. Workers commute by car from home to work in an office or factory, driving quite literally from door to door. Automobiles have eliminated daily walking and cycling. Elevators and escalators have replaced stairs. Leisure time is spent watching television.

But restoring exercise in daily lives will not be easy. Today's cities, designed for automobiles, are leading to a life-threatening level of exercise deprivation. Our health depends on creating neighborhoods that are conducive to walking, jogging, and bicycling.

The challenge, according to the Worldwatch Institute, is to redesign communities, making public transportation the centerpiece of urban transport, and augmenting it with sidewalks, jogging trails, and bikeways. This also means replacing parking lots with parks, playgrounds, and playing fields. Unless we can design a lifestyle that systematically restores exercise to our daily routines, the obesity epidemic will continue to spread, the organization said.

For more information, check out www.worldwatch.org.

Andy Summa is a freelance writer in Sugar Land, Texas.

WHAT IS PILATES ALL ABOUT?

Based on the teachings of Joseph H. Pilates, Pilates is an exercise system that strengthens and stretches muscles. Different from calisthenics, it focuses the mind to exercise the body. Involving full body participation, movements originate from the core of the body outward, making it especially well-suited for people with back problems.

Nationally recognized Pilates expert, Tom McCook, the owner of Center of Balance in Mountain View, CA, has set up a website that will help familiarize you with the popular exercise method that lengthens and strengthens the muscles in a balanced manner.  

STRETCHING:

• Stretching Inc. Online

Please check with your physician before starting an exercise routine.

(Even if you don’t aspire to be a Marathon runner…)

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