Much commentary has greeted the fed’s newly released Dietary Guidelines for Americans. What intrigues me is the response that the new recommendations for physical activity are “unrealistic.”
Here are the recommendations, taken directly from the executive summary:
Engage in regular physical activity and reduce sedentary activities to promote health, psychological well-being, and a healthy body weight.
To reduce the risk of chronic disease in adulthood: Engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity, above usual activity, at work or home on most days of the week.
For most people, greater health benefits can be obtained by engaging in physical activity of more vigorous intensity or longer duration.
To help manage body weight and prevent gradual, unhealthy body weight gain in adulthood: Engage in approximately 60 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity activity on most days of the week while not exceeding caloric intake requirements.
To sustain weight loss in adulthood: Participate in at least 60 to 90 minutes of daily moderate-intensity physical activity while not exceeding caloric intake requirements. Some people may need to consult with a healthcare provider before participating in this level of activity.
Achieve physical fitness by including cardiovascular conditioning, stretching exercises for flexibility, and resistance exercises or calisthenics for muscle strength and endurance.
Some people are riled up at the idea that managing body weight might take an hour to 90 minutes of physical activity four to six days a week.
I have several responses, first of all that the guidelines weren’t constructed for convenience’ sake. Their point is to explain what it will take to achieve or maintain optimal health. They wouldn’t be worth much if scientists got together, figured out what people wanted to hear, and then fed it back to them.
Certainly some people don’t have 60 to 90 minutes to spare on an average day, particularly people with heavy responsibilities for others–small children, dependents with disabilities, etc.
But if it’s true that the average American spends a couple of hours with television each day, it follows that the average American does have the time. Certainly other factors may get in the way–e.g., unsafe neighborhoods unsuitable for walking, lack of money for gym memberships, and so on.
To me it makes sense to take the recommendations in the spirit in which they were given: they’re recommendations. They’re outlining what we need to do to help make up for all the physical labor we no longer do in the course of our day (plowing, churning butter, scrubbing floors by hand, chopping wood, carrying water, washing dishes, walking to school or to church or to the store).
They’re a challenge. And challenge, to quote our incarcerated cultural icon Martha Stewart, is a good thing.
