As promised, I’m back in the blog-writing mode. While I will continue to keep you up to date on what is going on with Grand Canyon State Games and the Widmark family, I’m planning to use these blogs to a greater extent as a vehicle to focus on the benefits of physical fitness and a healthy lifestyle as an alternative to obesity, drugs, chronic illnesses and escalating health costs.
Having said that, I got to thinking that with all the talk these days about healthcare reform, there is something that we all can do as individuals to reform the way we care for our own health.
TIME Magazine recently ran an article entitled “America’s Health Checkup” which pointed out that “67% of Americans are overweight or obese, 27% have blood pressure that is too high, and 40% get no exercise.” Most Americans don’t eat enough salads and vegetables, and what we do eat, we don’t burn off because of our sedentary lifestyles.
Pretty scary numbers. The TIME Magazine article goes on to say, “The biggest problem with the U.S. healthcare system is that it has long been designed to respond to illness rather that prevent it.” A follow-up article noted that “70% of our healthcare costs are attributable to chronic, preventable diseases. About 40% of premature deaths in the United States are caused by lifestyle choices - smoking, poor eating and inactivity.”
It’s not easy changing the way in which we live, but these statistics should give pause for reflection – and hopefully lead to changes for the better. I’m not qualified to give a lot of medical advice. That’s your doctor’s job. But I do want to create a greater awareness by passing along information from reliable sources that will help us lead more productive and healthy lives. So let’s all get on the “preventive bandwagon” for better health.
While you may not agree with some of President Obama’s policies and proposed programs, he does set the right example by making physical fitness a daily requirement. Even during the hectic days of his pre-election campaign, he made it a daily practice to go to the gym to work out for 90 minutes for some 48 days in a row.
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The Grand Canyon State Games is a multi-sport Olympic Festival providing a showcase for the talents and aspirations for Arizona and America's youth regardless of age or ability and to share many of the great attributes of our state. In fact we have had a 3 year old come down the mountain in our Winter skiing event and a 99 year old gentleman throw the javelin in our Track & Field event. We truly have something for everyone.
