What would you say if I told you there was a preventable pandemic that was the cause of 1 in 10 deaths around the world. That’s right, 1 in 10. 10% of all deaths – WORLDWIDE. That number puts it on par with smoking and obesity. It causes coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, breast and colon cancers. It’s something that lurks in your den, your office, permeating your life.
It is everywhere, but unlike smoking which has been shown to be as, if not more, addictive than heroin, this killer can be easily dispensed. In fact, if we were able to reduce its presence by just “even 10% to 20% worldwide…it could save between a half-million and 1.3 million lives each year. This could also raise global life expectancy by almost a year.” -Matt Sloan, CNN.
1 in 10.
That’s a lot of death.
So what is this killer that is everywhere? According to a series of studies released in British medical journal The Lancet, that killer is inactivity (read the studies here —>HERE<—). That’s right. Sitting around on our asses, staring at the boobtube, picking our noses and mindlessly doing nothing is killing us slowly in awful ways – heart disease, diabetes, cancer.
So what can we do to reduce, if not eliminate the effects of inactivity? The answer is simple really – move. That’s right, MOVE your body. I am partial to running, but it really doesn’t matter what you choose to do to get the heart pumping and the blood flowing – run, jog, walk, swim, bike, make love, jump rope, play tag, wrestle, climb a tree, gymnastics, get chased by the police (but don’t get caught), CROSSfit, jumping jacks, dance, play Wii or XBox Kinect, anything…anything for at least 30 minutes a day.
And then invite a friend.
I have gone on and on about the obesity epidemic that this country faces (2/3 of Americans are overweight, 1/3 are clinically obese) and how simply getting healthy could help resolve our health insurance cost issues, but this inactivity pandemic is just that, it is worldwide. Do your part to help ease the financial burden of preventable diseases – get up, move and drag someone with you.
You’ll thank me afterward.
Let them smoke. Give them 100 free packs a year and free lighters too! Natural Selection, right?
As long as I don’t have to pay for their health care! 😉
Good point
Thanks for this Luau. As the mother of two boys ,one with ASD (who sounds like a boy version of Brooke) I am guilty of not taking time to look after myself. I struggle with my weight and general energy levels (and motivation) but I know when I get out for a walk/jog I feel so much better. This post has made me realise that better than trying to fit in an hour twice a week I can reasonably fit in 30 mins a day. You have inspired me to set a goal of doing a 10km fun run. And we’ll see where I go from there.