HHS AND WEIGHT GAIN AND WEIGHT LOSS

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES  
From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Nicholas Garlow with HHS HealthBeat.

Losing weight is hard. Keeping yourself from gaining weight may not be easy, but at least it’s not as hard as losing it. With that in mind, researchers at Duke University have been looking at what they call the “maintain, don’t gain” approach.

Researcher Gary Bennett checked data on 97 black women in an intervention group in which each woman was in a program that included personalized goals for diet and physical activity. He compared them with another 97 who got basically weight loss counseling.

“Sixty-two percent of women in our intervention group completed the intervention with weights at or below their starting weight, compared to only 45 percent of women in our usual care group.”

The study in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at healthfinder.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Nicholas Garlow.

ONLY 20% ADULTS IN U.S. MEET PHYSICAL ACTIVITY GUIDELINES

FROM: CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL
One in five adults meet overall physical activity guidelines

About 20 percent of U.S. adults are meeting both the aerobic and muscle strengthening components of the federal government's physical activity recommendations, according to a report published in today's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a journal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The data are based on self-reported information from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System; an annual phone survey of adults aged 18 and over conducted by state health departments.

The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend that adults get at least 2½ hours a week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity such as walking, or one hour and 15 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, such as jogging, or a combination of both. The guidelines also recommend that adults do muscle-strengthening activities, such as push-ups, sit-ups, or activities using resistance bands or weights. These activities should involve all major muscle groups and be done on two or more days per week.

The report finds that nationwide nearly 50 percent of adults are getting the recommended amounts of aerobic activity and about 30 percent are engaging in the recommended muscle-strengthening activity.

HHS SAYS "WE SHOULD ALL BE PHYSICALLY ACTIVE"

FROM:  HHS HealthBeat (May 9, 2012) 
Getting real about fitness
Age is no excuse. Young or old, we should all be physically active. For adults, that means 30 minutes of activity a day, five days a week. For kids, that means 60 minutes of activity a day, five days a week. You can also count your steps using a pedometer. Experts say adults should walk 8,500 steps a day. Kids should walk around 12,000 steps a day.
Shellie Pfohl is executive director of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition.

"Just because we’re aging does not mean that we are going to get heart disease. It does not mean that diabetes is in our future. We have got to take care of ourselves now."
Being active reduces your risk for heart disease, certain cancers, stroke, osteoporosis, and diabetes.