Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 7, 1993 TAG: 9311070125
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
They're "too tired, too lazy, too busy," said Phillip Wiethorn of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.
"Exercise has to be a habit, not, `Maybe I'll do it this week.' We don't say, `Maybe I'll brush my teeth this week.' "
President Clinton asked the council to find ways to get Americans off their couches and moving around. But first, it had to figure out why so many adults - an estimated 60 percent - are sedentary.
So it surveyed 1,018 sedentary Americans last month and found they do have time for some physical fitness - they just don't believe they do.
Sixty-four percent of those polled said they would like to exercise more because they know it's healthy but said they can't find the time. They said they had fewer than 10 hours of leisure time every week.
But 84 percent watch television at least three hours a week, meaning they have time for physical activity but are too lazy or prefer television, the survey concluded.
And 41 percent said they weren't likely to improve anytime soon.
Regular exercise lowers cholesterol and blood pressure and helps thwart heart disease and other illnesses. Nobody knows how much disease a sedentary lifestyle actually causes, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the nation spends $5.7 billion annually in medical care and lost productivity for sedentary people with heart disease alone.
Yet adults need just 30 minutes of moderate exercise, anything from walking to yard work, five days a week for better health. And that 30 minutes can be accumulated through the day, 10 minutes here and 15 there.
"People don't realize that. It can be easy to get," Wiethorn said. "And it's got to be fun, because nobody's going to sign up for pain."
by CNB