Chicago Tribune, Monica Eng, July 21, 2010
Every five years the American public gets a newly tweaked directive on what we’re supposed to be eating.
And every five years the American public largely ignores it.
For example, the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend we eat 2 1/2 cups of vegetables and 2 cups of fruit a day. But according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only about 14 percent of adults are even coming close.
Special interest groups, however, watch the guidelines closely and are speaking out. Just last week, nearly …

July 1, 2010
In short: Bicycling and brisk walking, but not slow walking (as most people do) is associated with less weight gain in this study by Anne Lusk. This is a major incentive to promote bicycling in cities around the world!
Biking for as little as five minutes a day can help women minimize weight gain as they enter middle age, especially if they’re overweight to begin with, a new study suggests.
The study followed more than 18,000 premenopausal women between the ages of 25 and 42 for 16 years. During that …

The Huffington Post, June 23, 2010
Taking a bold step forward for public health and well-being, today President Obama announced his “Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition.”
Now if that doesn’t strike you as bold or important, allow us to take you down memory lane for a moment. Remember the old patch you’d get in physical education class back in the day for doing a certain number of push-ups, sit-ups and running a mile in a certain time? Sometimes it felt like you just got it for showing up because the tests seemed so …

Reuters, June 16, 2010
More Americans are exercising but rates of obesity and smoking have not changed, according to the latest government data (LS: This is obvious since an hour of running can be compensated with just one muffin, calorie-wise).
A survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released on Wednesday finds obesity rates were frozen last year at around 28 percent of adults compared to 2008.
But 34.7 percent claimed in 2009 they engage in regular leisure physical activity, up from 31.9 percent in 2008. And 39.8 percent said …

USATODAY, Chris Joyner, May 10, 2010
When the Jackson Police Department tried to recruit new officers this spring, more than a third of the applicants were not able to pass the initial physical fitness test.
The city’s police academy’s initial fitness exam includes push-ups, a 1½ mile run, an obstacle course and a flexibility test, Deputy Police Chief Gerald Jones said.
Mississippi has the highest rate of obesity in the nation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But Jones said it is not just that recruits are fat.
“What we are …

TIME, Alice Park, April 7 2010

For most pregnant women, exercise is the last thing on their minds. After all, keeping slim while you’re expecting isn’t exactly the top priority — rather, it’s making sure your baby gets enough nutrients to grow. But in a small new study, researchers at the University of Auckland in New Zealand report that a mother’s regular aerobic exercise may be good for a growing fetus’ health — and may even help a baby get a healthier start in life.

The finding is a bit surprising, because …

Walter Willett for Newsweek, February 5, 2010
Until last year, the residents of Albert Lea, Minn., were no healthier than any other Americans. Then the city became the first American town to sign on to the AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project—the brainchild of writer Dan Buettner, whose 2008 book, The Blue Zones, detailed the health habits of the world’s longest-lived people. His goal was to bring the same benefits to middle America—not by forcing people to diet and exercise, but by changing their everyday environments in ways that encourage a healthier lifestyle.
What …

OVER the course of a year, Alex Feintuch, a 20-year-old sophomore at the University of South Carolina, spent more than $1,000 on fitness supplements.
Mr. Feintuch wanted to add size and definition to his muscles, and to “see results as quickly as possible.” He did research and tried dozens of products, with mixed results.
“Of the products that I have bought, I’ve found many that work well,” he said. “But some don’t and were a waste of money.”
The fitness supplements industry is primarily aimed at young men like Mr. Feintuch. Bodybuilding-related products — …

A new study from Australia suggests that couch potatoes live shorter lives.
The study followed 8,800 adults ages 25 and older for six and a half years and found that each daily hour of television viewing was associated with an 18 percent increase in deaths from heart disease and an 11 percent increase in overall mortality.
Those who watched television four hours or more a day were 80 percent more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than those who watched two hours or less, and 46 percent more likely to die …

Editorial J. Michael Gaziano, MD, MPH JAMA. 2010;303(3):(doi:10.1001/jama.2009.2025).
In 1900, Henry Ford unveiled the first car made in Detroit, the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union was founded in New York, and San Francisco was placed under a federal quarantine to prevent the spread of bubonic plague. Infectious disease was a major concern, and the most common causes of death in the United States and in many parts of the world at the time were pneumonia and tuberculosis. Today, most individuals die of cardiovascular disease or cancer. This dramatic shift in the illnesses …