The Healthy Blogger

Can exercise compete against the TV/computer?

When you go to the doctors, have you ever noticed that you always get the same advice, just expressed in different ways each time? Essentially, the advice is to exercise, eat right, don’t smoke, don’t drink too much, etc. People hear it all the time and they get so tired of it. So much so, that I know some completely tune it out. Once they tune it out, it doesn’t matter if you quote them all the research studies proving this and that benefit.

Exercise has been touted as one of the best ways to combat all kinds of diseases. The latest study shows that it reduces your risk of some forms of colon cancer. Well, to me, that only makes sense. It simply follows from the fact that if you exercised regularly, you are probably not one of those couch potatoes, sitting in front of the TV, munching on chips, nachos, beer, sodas, pizzas, etc. One of the biggest risk factors for colon cancer is fatty foods. Many diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease and cancers, arise from sedentary lifestyles.

Though I advocate an active lifestyle, I’m afraid the message is no longer received with much enthusiasm. People may be concerned about their health, but scare tactics by associating inactivity with disease does not seem to motivate people any more.  Telling them they need to exercise, especially in reference to their weight or cholesterol levels, can be degrading and demotivating.  What they need to hear is that exercise is fun and socially rewarding.

It’s hard to do that when the TV culture is trying its best to get more viewers. Computers and electronic games are also claiming a lot of attention. If we can make the sedentary activities less entertaining, more people might go out and take a walk. I suppose the Wii Fit can be credited with an attempt to get more people active in a fun way, but it costs a lot. What most people need is a form of exercise that is free or cheap, easy to do, and fun. We need to emphasise FUN!

To change people’s attitudes about exercise, doctors, public health workers and the government need to work together to come up with a program to promote exercise and provide a means for it. It would be one way to combat diseases that affect the overall economic health.