sad comments on exercise article

dalguard

Slate has got a short article (really a teaser for book) about how exercise can help prevent and/or cure most major diseases (which is true). The scary thing is the comments on the article, all of which pooh pooh the idea of exercise in some way - it's too much trouble, it's not worth it, people aren't going to do it, author isn't saying anything new. It's a sad illustration of the author's point. We have a magic pill but most people refuse to use it.

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2013/12/exercise_to_prevent_cure_or_treat_disease_cancer_heart_disease_inflammation.html (don't know how to make a clickable link)

To read the site comments you click on the little red icon next to the Twitter icon. I didn't check the Twitter or FB comments. Maybe those are more balanced.

kgeyser

People don't exercise for the same reason having health insurance doesn't make you healthier. If you can't access what you need, it doesn't matter. The obesity epidemic in the US is not only tied to exercise, but other factors like socioeconomic status. We all know that being poor makes it harder to eat healthy. Add to that the crime level in impoverished areas, and you're not going to find a lot of people out walking or riding bikes for exercise. A gym membership is out of the question if you can't afford it or don't have the means to get there. And if you have kids, you also have to deal with childcare issues. A lower premium on your healthcare insurance isn't going to inspire people who are too poor to afford it or receive it free through Medicaid.

The second hit to exercise is the fact that many people have gained so much weight that they already have health issues which make it difficult to exercise. People in those situations will often try to exercise, hurt themselves because they either overexert themselves or don't know what they are doing, and end up flat on their backs for 4 days afterwards. This is where having a trainer or access to a gym where someone can provide guidance can help, but that again gets into cost, accessibility, and dealing with judgment from other gym patrons (we all know it happens).

The third problem is that people have trouble with the long game. We know it's better to eat right and exercise, but the benefits seem so far away and unattainable. Yes, they could add in exercise 3 times a week, but the time it takes to lose weight seems so far away and they know they do not have the resources to sustain it, so they blow off exercise. In their minds, there's no point to doing something if it's not going to really change the situation.

I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer, I'm just saying that "just go exercise" is not always as simple for people as we like to think. And I'm also not saying that I support all the lines of reasoning people have for not exercising, I'm just offering a different perspective. If there was an easy solution to the problem of getting people to exercise, that guy wouldn't have gotten funding to conduct his research and write a book.