Physical Activity as Medicine Part 2: The Media and Barriers to Exercise
18:26Whitney Hills My favourite part of the symposium was done by Andre Picard, a health reporter from the Globe and Mail. He speaks about the medias portrayal of exercise, and why people are turned off physical activity.
While it has become clear that physical activity is one of the best ways to improve health and reduce risk for mortality from non-communicable disease. The challenge is getting people to actually go out and exercise. Here are some reasons why:
- Inactivity is easier and more pleasurable, especially for the beginner. A regular exerciser will understand how good it makes them feel and will be more likely to keep working out. A beginner has more physical "symptoms", it is often uncomfortable at first. Not very "fun."
- Physical activity in school is feared. It is not enjoyable, awkward, makes people insecure and nervous. No one wants to be there, there are so many gym class excuses and notes
- Parents ruin play activity by putting children into organized sports with uniforms, rules, competition, chidren feeling inadequate, and parents over involvement. An average child playing a hockey game has 6 minutes of ice time, burning only 100kcal
- The media portrays exercise as a huge chore. The Biggest Loser shows people starving, devoting over 6 hours a day to exercise, being verbally abused by trainers, and then doing dramatic and unhealthy things on their weigh ins to win money. This is very unrealistic, unsustainable and very dangerous, especially for people of that size. It turns people off exercising, they watch the show and eat! I've heard this so many times, I eat crap while I watch them suffer.
Health is very political, and politicians get most of their health information from the mainstream media. Obesity is a health issue that is costly and very visable in society. Obesity cost Canadians 4.6-7.1 billion each year. This includes direct health care costs and indirect costs like lack of productivity.
- 1 in 4 Canadians are obese, more than 30%
- 13 million Canadians are overweight heading to obesity (2011 data...)
- Middle class Canadians used to do manual labour which was 8 hours of exercise. This is becoming rare as desk jobs are more common causing much less caloric expenditure. These people could come home and relax, now they need to come home and exercise!
- Those who exercise eat better food and less calories
So what can we do????
- Frame exercise as an escape from work, cell phones, emails. It is me-time to clear ones head.
- Speak to the benefits of exercise
- Encourage programs where someone can lead and educate while making exercise fun. My clients love me for providing a distraction from the "awful exercise". I often hear how the hour goes by so much faster with me. Having a trainer or buddy or group system can help with this
- Address issues of a vehicle friendly society with costly access to fitness facilities
I have noticed a big change in the exercise culture in the last few years. Exercise "selfies" are flooding facebook (mine anyways) and it seems many people are hitting the gym to look great (and hopefully to feel good and improve their health). If social media like Instagram are encouraging people to hit the gym, then all the power to it. I have a feeling that the people that are at risk for chronic disease and obesity are not those on Instagram, but those with a lower socioeconomic status. Public health programs and policies need to be put into place to target these at risk populations.
If anyone knows of any interesting initiatives going on, I would love to know about them. Stay stress free, keep active, and enjoy the holiday season :)
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