Exercise, education and health

ABSTRACT

The benefits of exercise are far-reaching. Various studies have demonstrated that regular aerobic exercise reduces the risk of death due to heart disease and stroke. It also aids in reducing weight and helps to prevent diabetes mellitus. Exercise strengthens bones by increasing calcium uptake and it also enhances immunity function. It strengthens muscles, including heart muscle, and is associated with lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. The psychological benefits are also broad, and most studies suggest a positive relationship between physical fitness and mental achievement. Exercise is relaxing to the mind. It improves the mental tone of an individual in the same way that it improves the physical tone of the body. Psychologically, regular exercise is thought to contribute to a feeling of well-being, as well as to help relieve stress. There has been a marked change in health and nutrition in the Caribbean over the last 30 to 40 years. A large proportion of the United States population is obese, and the major cause is a lack of physical activity. In some Caribbean countries, one-half of the adult females and one-fourth of the adult males are obese. Some school children are also obese, although the rates are much lower than in adults. This could be 10 to 20 percent. Lifestyle related chronic diseases Experience in many countries shows that children can be taught to practice a healthy lifestyle and that a healthy lifestyle can reduce the risk factors for chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. While the biological or physiological facts of lifestyle development learnt in other countries can apply in the Caribbean, their application has to be learnt in our own environment. Positive healthy lifestyle development implies keeping body fat low; eating correctly; performing adequate daily physical exercise; not smoking; avoiding substance abuse, including alcohol; developing a positive self-concept and improving self-esteem. It was against this background that the school-based Community Nutrition Education Programme, otherwise called Project Lifestyle, was initiated in 1988 by the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI) at the UWI, Mona Campus. It was hoped that in the long run the initiative would help to prevent obesity, diabetes, hypertension and other lifestyle related chronic diseases.(AU)