Do you know how much you walk in a typical day? A new poll shows that many of us have no idea. But even for those who keep track of their steps, it doesn’t necessarily translate to better behavior: More than half of this group doesn’t meet basic government recommendations to walk briskly for at least 30 minutes a…
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Exercise trends come and go as step aerobics yield to interval training, weight machines are tossed for medicine balls and Pilates falls in and out of fashion. But when it comes to exercise habits, Americans say they prefer to stick to what’s simple, solo and short. Nearly 75 percent of 1,200…
On Wednesday, September 25, 2013, an estimated 100,000 women of all ages will participate in local health and fitness events at more than 1,000 community locations across the country as part of the 12th Annual National Women’s Health & Fitness Daysm. This event, the first of its kind, will always be held the last Wednesday…
If you thought all the good September holidays were behind us, think again. On Sept. 22, people around the world will once again celebrate World Carfree Day, and this is a great time to dream up new strategies to leave the keys at home and get around in another, less-emission-laden way. Car-free days date back to…
Children who are physically fit absorb and retain new information more effectively than children who are out of shape, a new study finds, raising timely questions about the wisdom of slashing physical education programs at schools. Parents and exercise scientists (who, not infrequently, are the same people) have known for a long time that physical…
Efforts to increase healthy habits in American teens may be making an impact, according to a new study. Adolescents are moving more, eating better and watching less TV than they used to, and researchers say obesity rates in this group may finally be stabilizing. The study results come a little more than a month after…
Exercise can be effective at reducing symptoms of depression among people with the condition, according to a new review of studies published in The Cochrane Library, but researchers say more studies are needed on the relationship between depression and physical activity. A team from the University of Edinburgh examined 39 past studies on depression and exercise,…
The start of the school year is like a new calendar year, a time to make resolutions and set goals. It can be a little frenzied, but your school commute doesn’t have to be. Start a healthy habit: Walking and biking to school can give you quality time together as a family, and studies show…
At a time when many Americans spend their days exercising nothing but their thumbs to exhaustion, others have grown obsessed with steps. Each footfall, from getting the mail to getting in a run, is tracked on the way to 10,000 — a not-so-magic number that’s been turned into a fitness grail. Ten thousand steps is…
Now there’s a number for how effective lifestyle changes can be in protecting the heart and preventing deaths from heart attack and stroke. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the U.S., but a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that many of the deaths are…
