EXERCISE: WHY IT'S WORTH IT!

Most of us living in the United States feel self-conscious about our bodies.
The average American home has at least two televisions. TV exposes us to messages about what is an ideal body type. We see programs with actors and models with perfect bodies.
The news programs we watch tell us obesity is on the rise. (link)
We see commercials for diet pills and exercise machines.
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed.

There are many reasons to exercise than besides getting the “perfect body.”
Right now, sixty percent of the mortality rate in the world is caused by lifestyle factors. We may not be able to change where we live or the air we breathe, the safety of our neighborhoods, or environmental pollution…but we do have the power to change our habits.
The worst habits we make for ourselves that can lead to early death and chronic illnesses are: poor diet, lack of exercise, and smoking. Most of these habits are formed during the teenage years between the ages of 12 and 19.
Teenagers that exercise regularly have more health promoting habits and are also less likely to participate in health-risk behaviors (info). The positive habits we form as teenagers influence how we feel about ourselves now and as future adults.
This increases self-esteem, improves mood, self-concept, lowers both depression and anxiety, and helps us feel good about our bodies. Part of feeling good about our bodies is about feeling comfortable with our weight. People who are obese tend to feel isolated, or prefer to “stick to themselves.”
They are concerned about how others see them and are sometimes more comfortable spending time alone. This may lead to feelings of loneliness. Even without weight problems, dealing with puberty can make teenagers feel more awkward in their own skin.

Body weight affects how we feel physically and mentally. There are also social and financial consequences to being obese. Being overweight is expensive.
One statistic claims that the direct and indirect costs of obesity in the U. S. were about $139 billion dollars in 2003. Obesity is considered to be above the overweight classification.
In the U.S., there is a growing trend of obesity among children and teenagers. Teenagers are prone to becoming overweight, especially girls, because their activity levels go down. In the last twenty years, the percentage of obese teenagers has more than tripled. Heart disease and type II diabetes are specifically associated with obesity rates in teenagers.

Going through puberty is difficult and troubling.
This is a time when you start to notice members of the opposite sex, compare your bodies to your friends’ bodies, think about your own physical features, and become more concerned about how others view you. Adolescence is a time of self-discovery and identity. Teenagers need all the support they can get to achieve this. By keeping a physically healthy body, it helps maintain a positive body image. There is a relationship for healthy people between mind, body, and spirit. Physical activity has been shown to improve the body and mind.

Besides helping you LOOK GREAT, exercise is associated with many health-enhancing benefits.
It has been proven to lower the risk for many chronic illnesses. Chronic illnesses are diseases that last a long time, usually over three months and may not have a cure. Some examples of chronic illness that regular physical activity may protect you from are: type II diabetes, breast and colon cancer, heart disease, obesity, bone loss, and depression.

Exercising also lowers the risk for prostate, endometrial, and lung cancers. It improves blood circulation, lowers blood pressure, prevents the formation of fats in blood vessels, lowers cholesterol, regulates blood sugar, and improves your immune system. Studies have shown that teenagers that exercise regularly are less likely to use marijuana, have better stress management skills and better quantity and quality of sleep than teenagers that exercise very little or not at all.

Despite all the benefits that physical activities provide…why then, don’t more people exercise?
For teenagers that live in an urban setting, there are a few reasons. Living in cities has decreased the need for exercise for most people across all ages. There has been less time dedicated to physical education in the school systems and also less time for play. Many factors in our environment today do not help with losing weight.
For example, neighborhoods are not built for recreation. Cars are the major mode of transport and their convenience has led to fewer fitness-promoting alternatives to transportation. Other examples include fun, but less active activities, like: watching television, using the Internet, and playing video games. Many teenagers feel they just don’t have the time for exercise.
School schedules are very demanding and some students even have jobs or other afterschool activities.
Teenagers may feel embarrassed at this stage of life, by having to perform in front of others. It is also not uncommon for a person to feel less motivated to exercise because of the discomfort they feel from the soreness after exercising for the first time.

There are other things that might affect a teenager’s participation in exercise and sports. Many families may not have enough money for the children to participate, and sometimes, the competitiveness of children’s sports may be too strong so children are hesitant to sign up for them.
Even if these teenagers enjoy sports as fun activities, many teenagers say that they feel inadequate when it comes to the competitive nature of the games.

So what can we recommend to teenagers who want to improve their physical activity levels?
Young people should exercise about sixty minutes a day at about a moderate intensity level. Don’t be discouraged if you feel sore when you first start.
Exercising can be fun and gets easier with time. You don’t have to compare yourself to your peers when you exercise, use your own progress as a guide.
Hopefully you can use this blog as encouragement to exercise more and as a resource to your questions about fitness.