Physical Activity

Modern day USA has so many problems at this time that many other issues forget to be addressed. Lately the focus has been on the economy, health care, H1N1, and the two wars. The problem that hasn't been truly addressed in a while has been obesity, even though it really has a huge impact on preventative health care with which we spent billions of dollars on each year and a huge percentage of money toward health care goes towards. And, it goes towards something that can be prevented, hence the name preventative health care. As an exercise physiology major and outdoor recreation and education major I have many strong feelings on this subject matter and would like to see a change for the better. To fit this in with the main subject "Man vs Wild", I will focus on outdoor recreation and how it promotes an active lifestyle. All kinds of outdoor activities: hiking, kayaking, rock climbing, running, bicycling, the more traditional sports, etc all force you to be active. This physical activity, if actually performed, would give people at least a small portion of the cardio vascular exercise they need and in turn keep them healthier. When people sit on a couch all day they don't exercise their heart and their heart gets weaker. Combine that with a poor diet, which puts added stress on the heart, and that leads to the most prevelant problem in preventative health care, heart disease. This is also the cause of other problems such as diabetes, hypertension, heart attack, etc. Shows like "Man vs Wild" give its viewers a look into how being active can be fun. Its also a way for the non-active viewers to hopefully compare their life and begin to realize the need to be active.