AMERICA'S HEALTH
On the soapbox …
Remember in high school when each student was required to do the Presidential Fitness test? I don’t remember the entire regiment of tasks to complete but I remember it involving a certain number of push-ups, sit-ups and a two-mile run among other things.
I bring all this up because I just read an interesting blog post by ultra-marathoner Dean Karnazes (here). In it, he talks about how is worried about the healthcare of America but not excited about how the U.S. government is going about “fixing it.” He sights the fact that 65% of Americans are listed as obese.
Granted that table used to discern the obese against the non-obese is not totally accurate but a simple walk around any mall in American will tell you this country has a serious health issue. And, as Karnazes says, Americans health will get worse before it gets better unless something really changes. So what does this have to do with the Presidential Fitness test in high school? While I hated it as a teenager, as an adult I’m starting to understand its purpose a little more.
Will that fitness test get American more healthy? Not by itself but it’s a start. You know what else would be another good starting point to get America healthy again? Getting rid of all this stupid diet pills. There is one tried and true way to get healthy – exercise. Diet doesn’t hurt either. Hey America, remember those things? How about those two things to fixed the healthcare system?
I have lost a substantial amount of weight in my lifetime and I exercise regularly. As a person who was once considered obese, I can not truly describe how much healthier I feel not only physically but mentally. I didn’t become “non-obese” because of a new government health plan, but rather because I knew there was a problem and fixed it. It’s about time Americans put down the tub of ice cream, the bars of chocolate and fourth helping at the buffet and laced up a pair of shoes and went to the gym.
… off the soapbox
Remember in high school when each student was required to do the Presidential Fitness test? I don’t remember the entire regiment of tasks to complete but I remember it involving a certain number of push-ups, sit-ups and a two-mile run among other things.
I bring all this up because I just read an interesting blog post by ultra-marathoner Dean Karnazes (here). In it, he talks about how is worried about the healthcare of America but not excited about how the U.S. government is going about “fixing it.” He sights the fact that 65% of Americans are listed as obese.
Granted that table used to discern the obese against the non-obese is not totally accurate but a simple walk around any mall in American will tell you this country has a serious health issue. And, as Karnazes says, Americans health will get worse before it gets better unless something really changes. So what does this have to do with the Presidential Fitness test in high school? While I hated it as a teenager, as an adult I’m starting to understand its purpose a little more.
Will that fitness test get American more healthy? Not by itself but it’s a start. You know what else would be another good starting point to get America healthy again? Getting rid of all this stupid diet pills. There is one tried and true way to get healthy – exercise. Diet doesn’t hurt either. Hey America, remember those things? How about those two things to fixed the healthcare system?
I have lost a substantial amount of weight in my lifetime and I exercise regularly. As a person who was once considered obese, I can not truly describe how much healthier I feel not only physically but mentally. I didn’t become “non-obese” because of a new government health plan, but rather because I knew there was a problem and fixed it. It’s about time Americans put down the tub of ice cream, the bars of chocolate and fourth helping at the buffet and laced up a pair of shoes and went to the gym.
… off the soapbox
posted by Stephen Hinkel at
3:15 PM
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