Article: What Moves You?

http://www.utexas.edu/features/2009/05/11/health_friendly/

What Moves You? Community design can boost fitness and health, says expert

Here are some excerpts:

According to Kohl, wide sidewalks in good repair encourage foot traffic, as do streets that have clearly marked walkways at intersections, speed limits posted at frequent intervals and speed control features on street surfaces. In addition to benefiting physical health, the migration of people from their couches and computers to the outdoors can improve their mental and emotional health.

To change America's dismal health report card, Kohl is a firm believer in changing children's habits. According to Kohl, children need to grow up seeing daily physical activity as pleasurable and as a natural thing, like sleeping or eating. He points out that you can tie anybody to a treadmill at the same time every day and make them walk for 30 minutes or an hour, but when you untie them, is that person going to jump back on the treadmill and enthusiastically exercise—every day? Highly unlikely.

"Kids like video games because video games are fun," says Kohl. "Physical activity needs to be fun or children aren't going to want to engage in it. It's not about coming up with a structured, timed, enforced regimen of exercise and having them feel as though they're part of a chain gang. It may be as simple as just encouraging them to go outside and play—play is exercise.

"People in my field feel pretty comfortable saying that level of physical activity predicts who will live longer and who will die sooner," says Kohl. "Putting it succinctly, 'move for health' just about sums things up."