In late September 2013, my travels took me back to the great city of Portland, Oregon. Portland is one of my favorite cities because it is so friendly to both walkers and bikers. There are trails all thru the city and during weekday mornings and evenings they are packed with locals walking and biking to work. If only more cities would make such a commitment to active transportation, America would be much healthier place.

I was there in Portland to give a talk about prescribing exercise to patients at the Kaiser Permanente Rockwood Clinic. This clinic is home to a great group of doctors and staff who are part of an exciting project designed to figure out the best way to promote exercise to patients in the clinic setting. For the past few years, all Kaiser Patients have been asked about their exercise habits at every clinic visit. We call this our Exercise Vital Sign and we want to encourage all our adult patients to get 150 minutes or more moderate exercise each week. And like most of US population, we have a lot of our Kaiser patients who are not getting enough exercise. Figuring out how to best motivate these inactive patients to get more active is critically important to getting and keep them healthy.

Of course while I was in Portland, I enjoyed getting out for a nice walk every day. I love to walk along the downtown River trails and enjoy the beautiful views.

Thanks again for your support and lets encourage Every Body to Walk!

All the best!

Bob