Advocate

Sedentary lifestyles contribute greatly to the burden of chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes. In fact, scientific evidence clearly shows a link between regular physical activity and long-term health benefits, including a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and many other diseases.

In 2008, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released its first physical activity recommendations. The guidelines recommend that adults get two and a half hours of moderate exercise every week to help reduce their risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure.

The report also concludes that children who are physically active for at least one hour or more each day gain substantial health benefits. Yet physical education programs are still being reduced or eliminated in many schools.

Our children are not being taught the importance of regular physical activity and they are certainly not being conditioned to live a more active lifestyle. Instilling these healthy lifestyle behaviors in our children can go a long way toward improving modifiable risk factors and quality of life.