Today, I did something rather odd. I picked up the phone, dialed my supervisor's extension, asked her a question, then hung up. Sound like a reasonable thing to do? Well not really when you consider the fact that my supervisor literally sits ten feet away from me, separated by a line of cubicles. Add to this the fact that I am currently enrolled in the Arizona Take Charge Challenge (ATCC), a program designed to promote physical activity and you can more clearly see how peculiar my behavior actually was. The truth is, I was in the middle of writing a grant and did not want to interrupt my train of thought by getting up and walking across the room, so lifting the receiver to make a quick phone call was much more convenient. Therein lies the problem...convenience. We have created all these amazing inventions to improve our quality of life, automobiles, telephones, washing machines, but there is a trade off. People are living longer but getting fatter. How will the unexpected consequence of obesityand the problems that go with it affect our quality of life.
Ironically, the grant I am currently working on deals specifically with working at the policy level to help change those behaviors that have a direct consequence on our health... number one on the list was lack of physical activity. One of the suggestions was work place interventions. Looking at the various websites and articles on the Internet I was impressed by all the creative and innovative programs different agencies have utilized to encourage physical activity. Some of these programs look very similar to ATCC. The question is, how do you get people to turn these activities into habits.
Three times a week I teach an exercise program for older adults at an assisted living facility. This program is evidence based and when properly implemented can help older adults improve or maintain function. The thing is, most of the adults that are regulars in the program were exercising before I came along. In other words they were already in the habit of exercising. So how do we encourage those that are not already doing it to engage in physical activity?
I was intrigued by the idea of "the built environment of the future." Building our neighborhoods and shopping centers in such a way as to promote physical activity. There was also a reference to video games that promote movement (many assisted living and enhanced care facilities have invested in The Wii for this very reason). When I read these kinds of ideas I cannot help but play devil's advocate. Is fooling someone into becoming physically active really the answer? Does it ultimately solve the problem?
Another idea is to make physical activity fun. There is a social component to exercise. If you have ever watched children on the playground you can see how they interact in very physically active ways. A couple of weeks ago I watched my daughter hop on and off a park bench dozens of times while carrying on a conversation with a friend. Meanwhile the friend twirled round and round a pole. I am not sure what they were doing exactly but they were definitely having fun and getting plenty of exercise at the same time.
Education is obviously important, but how to get the message out and get people to respond. It has been said that it takes three years to completely change a behavior, and even after all that time it can be a struggle. It is almost as if we are culturally conditioned to live sedentary lifestyles. Think about it, office jobs are considered more desirable by many people because of the lack of physical labor. Why would anyone want to be more physically active if a sedentary lifestyle equals higher social status?
Many people finally begin exercising after experiencing a life threatening event like a heart attack. unfortunately this is not the ideal way of changing a behavior. Of course we want people to be physically active before obesity, cardiovascular disease and other issues become a problem. The ideal time to begin the habit of being physically active is during childhood.
It seems that all of these factors need to be considered in order to change the direction society has been heading. Two thirds of american adults are overweight. Technology is a good thing but so is exercise. If we no longer have to do hard labor to make a living we have to find other ways to get exercise, it's a trade off.
This lyric by the Police kept running through my head while I was writing this so I decided to include it for good measure:
"Another working day has ended. Only the rush hour hell to face. Packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes. Contestants in a suicidal race." -Synchronicity, The police
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