|
|
FIT FOR LIFE
JULY 11, 1996
TRANSCRIPT
A report released today extols the virtues of exercise for those who want a long and healthy life. Jim Lehrer talks with the Director of the Center that produced the report.
MR. LEHRER: Finally tonight, the report on exercise issued today by the U.S. Surgeon General's office. The report was produced by the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. David Satcher is the director of the CDC. Dr. Satcher, welcome.
DR. DAVID SATCHER, Centers for Disease Control: Thank you.
MR. LEHRER: First, what prompted this? What caused this report to be done?
DR. SATCHER: Well, I think we've been concerned about physical inactivity in this country and also concerned that there has been no comprehensive report pulling all of the research together to really help people understand what's needed in order to benefit from physical activity and what those benefits are. So we thought that we needed to pull it together so the Secretary in 1994 commissioned this Surgeon General's Report on physical activity and asked CDC to take the lead in compiling it.
MR. LEHRER: What is your basic finding? When you put it all together, what is the number one conclusion that you would like for people to carry away from this?
DR. SATCHER: There are significant health benefits from moderate physical activity. We have often felt that in order to benefit from physical activity it had to be strenuous, vigorous. This report I think makes very clear that one can benefit significantly from moderate physical activity like walking, like bicycling, or working in the yard or gardening, those things that really are fairly easy to do and most people can do. We believe that regardless of age, regardless of economic status or place of residence, everybody can engage in moderate physical activity, and we're recommending that everybody does on a regular basis.
MR. LEHRER: You mentioned walking, bicycling, whatever. How should people define moderate? I mean, how do you know when you've exercised enough to help yourself in any way whatsoever?
DR. SATCHER: Well, we're recommending at least 30 minutes a day of exercise most days of the week. That's about 150 calories that one would burn. You know, we talk about a thousand calories a week. But we don't want people to worry about that. We want them to worry about becoming active and trying to do at least 30 minutes a day. Now in the past, people have questioned whether it all has to be at one time or whether you can--
MR. LEHRER: Yeah. Well, there was a study a few months ago that said it didn't have to all be at one time. What do you all say?
DR. SATCHER: We're agreeing with that.
MR. LEHRER: Yeah.
DR. SATCHER: We believe that some people will be able to do 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes at lunchtime and 10 minutes in the evening.
MR. LEHRER: And that helps, that works?
DR. SATCHER: Yes, it does.
MR. LEHRER: How does it--explain the connection between moderate exercise and health.
DR. SATCHER: Well, it's, it's physiology obviously. And I can give some specific examples of a moderate exercise program resulting in a significant decrease in cardiovascular diseases because it helps to, to burn calories, to burn fat, and reduces the fat levels in the blood, reducing hypertension or reducing diabetes, because it helps to burn sugar in the blood. So moderate exercise impacts upon the body in various ways. It doesn't have to be strenuous to do it. We now know that you can, you can prevent a large percentage of diabetes by physical activity. You can prevent a large percentage of high blood pressure with physical activity, a large percentage of cardiovascular disease and even colon cancer.
MR. LEHRER: Colon cancer--
DR. SATCHER: Colon cancer.
MR. LEHRER: --can be prevented by exercise?
DR. SATCHER: This study--
MR. LEHRER: Now how do you know that?
DR. SATCHER: Well, we pulled together for the first time, really, a lot of data that's been accumulated over decades but nobody had pulled it altogether and analyzed it en masse, metal analysis, if you will. And when we did that, we were able to show a strong association between physical activity and decreased risk of colon cancer. We didn't know the same thing for breast cancer of prostate cancer, but very clearly for colon cancer. We showed it for hypertension. We showed it for diabetes and cardiovascular disease in general. The other area that's also important is that we showed it for depression and anxiety.
MR. LEHRER: Wow! How did you measure that? How--
DR. SATCHER: Well, you know, there are questionnaires that can be distributed to people in terms of symptoms of depression and anxiety and these things were looked at throughout various surveys throughout the country.
MR. LEHRER: All right, now, you've issued the report. Now what is it that you would like to happen as a result of this? The first time there's ever been a Surgeon General's Report like this on exercise.
DR. SATCHER: Exactly.
MR. LEHRER: All right. What in the ideal world should happen now?
DR. SATCHER: Well, umm, let me say Vice President Gore today answered that question by saying America needs to get moving now. He also pointed out that he reminded us of the Surgeon General's Report in 1964 on smoking and health, a landmark report, and in 1988, the Surgeon General's Report on nutrition. So this is sort of a third in our opinion and very significant Surgeon General's Report that can make a big difference in the health of people in this country. We would like to see communities organize to provide better opportunities for people to be physical active. What that means, it means creating environments, walkways, so that it's safe for people to, to walk, bicycle paths. We'd like for communities where people don't feel safe to make school facilities available, work sites available, the malls available for moderate physical activity.
MR. LEHRER: Did you study why it is that people don't exercise?
DR. SATCHER: We asked a lot of people and you'd be--it's amazing. People feel they're too busy. They feel that it's not fun, it's boring to exercise. They feel that they can't do it, especially if they think that you've got to be athletic. And that's why we are really emphasizing that you don't have to be an athlete to be physical active. You don't have to jog miles a day to be physical active. You can walk. Even if you're in a wheelchair, you can be physical active. This report is for everybody. It's not for athletes. It's for everybody.
MR. LEHRER: Now you're, you're a regular exerciser, are you not?
DR. SATCHER: I have been a regular exerciser for many years. I've been physical active for over 30 years.
MR. LEHRER: What do you do? What's your regime?
DR. SATCHER: Well, I'm an outdoor person so I jog three or four days a week.
MR. LEHRER: On concrete, on grass, or does it matter to you?
DR. SATCHER: I do both. It depends on what's available, but it's usually along the highways. But I do want to point out that, that I also garden and at least two days a week I work in my garden, and that's very important exercise. I don't necessarily recommend that people jog because I think, I think walking is as good, if not better, for many people. It's certainly less harmful to the knees in the long run. I started jogging early so I continued it, but you don't have to. You can walk.
MR. LEHRER: And you do it? You exercise 30 minutes every day?
DR. SATCHER: At least, yes.
MR. LEHRER: So when you were looking at the returns on this report, it added up to you from your own experience, is that right?
DR. SATCHER: Oh, yes, and I'm convinced of the benefits of exercise. I'm convinced of the benefits in terms of quality of life, psychological well-being, and, and physical fitness. I'm convinced of the benefits in my own personal life, as well as other people's--
MR. LEHRER: Do you really believe that this is on par with smoking, that if the message got out and the majority of Americans started exercising, it could have that kind of health benefit?
DR. SATCHER: It definitely could, it really could, Jim. I think this report, if it gets America moving, could significantly reduce cardiovascular disease and hypertension and diabetes and colon cancer but also significantly improve the quality of life. And we don't, you know, want to use this as a basis for it, but it would also reduce the costs of medical care in this country. We're talking about preventing millions of people from, from having hypertension or getting diabetes. We're talking about significant improvements in mental well-being. So it could, in fact, have that kind of impact.
MR. LEHRER: So this is a big deal?
DR. SATCHER: We think it's a great big deal.
MR. LEHRER: Dr. Satcher, thank you very much.
DR. SATCHER: Delighted.
 |
        |
|
| Support the kind of journalism done by the NewsHour...Become a member of your local PBS station. | ||
| ||
| PBS Online Privacy Policy Copyright ©1996- MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. All Rights Reserved. | ||
| ||
