Move and improve your health!
2024 Summer Camp Guide
2024 Summer Camp Guidep

Community News

Move and improve your health!
10/4/2018 Volume XLVIII, No. 40

An epidemic is sweeping across the globe, and it’s causing a myriad of health problems, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, falls, and poor mental health.

The epidemic is physical inactivity … in other words, a sedentary lifestyle. A new study by the World Health Organization found that 28 percent of adults globally – some 1.4 billion people – are at risk from lack of exercise.

Thankfully, this epidemic is not contagious and it’s curable! All it takes is movement. And that’s exactly what the World Health Organization is promoting through its “Let’s Be Active” campaign.

The World Health Organization recommends getting at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity - or any combination of the two – every week. Health benefits include a lower risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and breast and colon cancers – plus better mental health and delayed onset of dementia.

The report uses data from nearly 2 million people from 168 countries, representing 96 percent of the global population. Worldwide, nearly one in four adults show unhealthy levels of inactivity. But in some places, as many as one in three adults are inactive.

Not surprisingly, the study found the highest levels of inactivity in wealthier counties where sedentary occupations are common and most people drive or take public transportation to work. The report also identified a gender gap: women are 8 percent less active than men.

According to the study, national policies are needed to encourage non-motorized transportation like walking and cycling, and to promote widespread participation in active recreation and sports.

The World Health Organization has launched a global action plan to reduce physical inactivity by 10 percent by 2025, and 15 percent by 2030.

The plan includes broad policy recommendations, including better urban planning to create “active environments.” These places would have more access to public open space, better walking and bicycle trail networks, integrated planning for development and transportation systems, and policies that promote an active lifestyle.

If you’re among the one in four adults who are not physically active, here’s what you can do:

  • Bicycle to work if possible.
  • If you drive to work, park your car as far as possible from your office … even when there’s an empty parking spot right next to the door!
  • If you take public transportation, get off one stop early.
  • Walk at lunchtime, and consider “walking meetings” with colleagues.
  • Whenever possible, take the stairs.
  • Take exercise classes or use facilities provided by your employer or your health care insurance.
  • Get to know public parks and nature preserves near you. A walk on an outdoor trail -surrounded by the sights, sounds and smells of nature - is far more effective for boosting mental health than walking the same distance indoors.
  • Check out programs like Walk with a Doc, in which physicians lead fitness walks and answer participants’ medical questions. To learn more, go to https://walkwithadoc.org/.
  • Pick a sport or activity you’ve never tried before and look for a beginner class. You might just discover a new passion! It’s a great feeling when you’re having so much fun that you forget you’re exercising.
  • Invite other people to join you when you exercise.

The World Health Organization report is a timely reminder of the human body’s need for physical activity. To read the report, go to www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(18)30357-7/fulltext#articleInformation.

And to learn more about preserving New Jersey’s land and natural resources – including parks and preserves – visit the New Jersey Conservation Foundation website at www.njconservation.org or contact me at info@njconservation.org.

POSTS

Still the Garden State!

Protect New Jersey's wildlife homes

Preserved lands protect clean air and water

To tree or not to tree?

Hard cider in the Garden State

Turkey Time

American shad return to New Jersey river after 173 years

Act now to avoid worst climate impacts

NJ Natural Lands Trust celebrates 50 years

Must love bats!

Move and improve your health!

Renewable energy: Save money and our land, water, air and health

Speak up for endangered species!

Save the bugs!

Check out New Jersey's fall bird migration

A little bit of respect...for native plants!

Explore New Jersey's wildflower meadows

All aboard floating classrooms

Catch the Perseids meteor shower!

Check out the 'fun' in fungi

Too hot to think? Studies shows heat affects your brain

Love NJ's outdoors? Take action now!

New Jersey's official reptile, the bog turtle

Sea level rise and New Jersey: Not perfect together

These New Jersey plants have an appetite for insects

Explore the Pine Barrens through paddles, hikes and tours

Like to jog? 'Plog' instead and keep NJ clean

Love Jersey fruit? Thank our native pollinators!

Good news for globally rare swamp pink lilies

Say cheese! Remote cameras aid wildlife research

Begone, single-use plastic bags!

3,000 birds and counting for 'bluebird grandfather'

The Pine Barrens gets some help from its friends

A clean energy future for New Jersey

Cowtown and rare grassland birds, perfect together

Fight light pollution during International Dark Sky Week

New film tells story of how Petty's Island was saved

Ten years of nipping invasive species in the bud

Welcome spring in a county park

Go for a walk and feel better!

Grab a friend and go outside

Recycle your way to zero waste!

Last call for winter wildlife watching on Jersey coast

Without its 'understory' layer, the forest will collapse

From whale songs to poetry, a remarkable journey

A cleaner, greener New Jersey

Let's keep New Jersey the Garden State, not the Pipeline State

New Jersey's winter hikes

'Trees don't vote' but Byrne saved Pine Barrens anyway

Governor-elect Murphy should set new course on the environment

ARCHIVE

December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011

CLICK FOR RECENT POSTS