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Forum » Their America » America, let me just say... » Nature and Exercise

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Author	Topic: Nature and Exercise

NataliaK

Novice Their American
Posts: 8

Nature and Exercise
on: December 7, 2015, 18:04

In America there is currently a staggering amount of people that are either overweight or obese and the numbers are growing exponentially. The desire to stay at home and watch T.V, play video games, or just be a couch potato is a common one among the young generation. Health consciousness is taught, however not practised. Many more youngsters are now being subjected to the throes of medical examination to then find they have diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and many other dangerous facets to one’s health. In order to control these outcomes there needs to be a balance of burning all the calories one is consuming and storing in order for the body to be fully functional. Exercise is extremely important and needs to be implemented at a higher level and at a younger age in America. However, there also seems to be a recurrent view that exercise is tedious, boring, and stressful. In that case one could make it enjoyable by incorporating it into daily life on an easier level – by just going outside. Simply by walking the dog, taking a walk around the neighbourhood, or visiting the local park could still do wonders to one’s health. By reconnecting with nature there will also be a sense of communal vitality and beauty that could motivate a person to continue their regiment. As Emerson wrote, “…all natural objects make a kindred impression, when the mind is open to their influence”.

Amanda-
Bourikas

Novice Their American
Posts: 8

Re: Nature and Exercise
on: March 31, 2016, 10:49

I agree with Natalia that exercise and healthy eating are very important and beneficial to a person's health at any age. However, the question is, how do we get healthy eating and exercise to become the norm? There definitely needs to be better education about healthy lifestyles beginning in schools. Moreover, living a healthy lifestyle is about being motivated and keeping others motivated, therefore, who will inspire people to live healthy lifestyles? From personal experience, its not easy to keep an exercise regiment going after a long day of classes or working- you just want to come home and relax. With regards to healthy eating, maybe if grocery companies lower prices for fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, etc. it would entice people to buy those products more, rather than going to the freezer section to buy a microwavable meal or stopping at a fast food chain to grab food. Advertising is also an issue, think about the amount of commercials for fast food chains, pop/beer companies, or candy companies in comparison to a commercial about healthy lifestyles (Canadian examples- GoodLife Fitness and ParticipACTION). With all this being said, in order to live healthier lifestyles we need to be led by example. In doing so, there should be institutional changes in how living healthy lifestyles are taught and advertised.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/news-and-features/news/jamies-food-revolution-the-news-so-far/#limkLRHOOvtrCiCu.97
http://www.letsmove.gov/learn-facts/epidemic-childhood-obesity
http://www.participaction.com/en-ca/about https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrI8ktR9zBw#action=share (ParticipACTION Day of Play)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gaBZ4cDuIA (GoodLife Fitness)

MoB

Novice Their American
Posts: 8

Re: Nature and Exercise
on: April 2, 2016, 00:00

Your concern about making healthy living fun kind of reminds me of David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest, in which Americans face many complex dangers because of a cultural apathy regarding the pursuit of things that aren’t pleasant or entertaining, and an uncontrollable urge to indulge in pleasure regardless of how unhealthy it might be. The book is kind of complicated and I don’t think I can offer any interesting insights about it here—I won’t try. But Wallace might suggest that the epidemic obesity in the United States is due not to the fact that exercise is not fun, but to a deeper cultural issue of Americans being completely adverse to things that are not fun. This second issue is obviously harder to address, but it's interesting to think that an impulse to make a solution to the problem of obesity more enjoyable might also be a symptom of that problem.

MoriahA

Novice Their American
Posts: 8

Re: Nature and Exercise
on: April 5, 2016, 19:47

It is interesting to see how far America has come from even just over a century ago. Theodore Roosevelt, the outdoors, mans man, of the turn of the century and 26th president of the United States, stressed the strenuous lifestyle. As he said in his speech, "I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph". Now, America is the place of ignoble ease. They strive for convenience rather than something that involves toil. Which, I believe, is the main reason for their obesity problem. Exercise has become inconvenient and fast food is the ultimate convenience.

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