New Exercise Guidelines: Start Young, Sit Less

 

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

Most of us know that physical activity leads to better health. That is nothing new.

But for the first time in 10 years, the United States government has changed its guidance on how much exercise people need to stay healthy and when they should start.

Brett Giroir is Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In a video, he spoke¹ with the Associated Press about the new guidelines.

Dr. Giroir says he is excited about the new guidelines. He adds that getting or attaining³ the health benefits from exercise may be easier than earlier thought.

“I’m very excited about the guidelines because what we’ve found out is that it’s actually easier to attain² the health benefits than we thought before. And the health benefits are so much greater.”

That is good news for people in the U.S. who may need to lose weight.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that in 2016 about 93 million adults nationwide were overweight or considered obese⁴. Its website notes that obesity⁵ rates for both adults and children have been rising since 1999.

For children and teens

The new federal guidance states that children as young as 3-years-old need to be physically⁶ active. Earlier guidelines used to begin at age 6.

Dr. Girior says that the most important time for children to begin exercising is between the ages of 3 and 5. He notes that boys and girls in this age group need at least three hours of activity every day.

“That was not present in our previous guidelines. But essentially⁷, those recommendations are that children in the 3- to 5-year-old age group really require about three hours of active activities per day. That could be light activities, moderate activities, or even vigorous activities. This is the kind of play that children normally engage in.”

Doctors say it is important to start young. They add that from birth to age 5, a child’s brain develops more than at any other time in life. These developments have a lasting⁸ effect on a child’s ability to learn and to succeed in school and in life.

Also, Giroir says that children who start exercising at a young age are more likely to establish healthy behaviors they will continue into adulthood⁹.

Dr. Giroir does not suggest putting your 5-year-old on a “treadmill¹⁰” or other exercise equipment. He said, simply giving a child the time and space to play actively¹¹ as they normally would is enough.

The new guidelines say that children ages 6 through 17 get at least one hour of moderate to vigorous activity a day. Most of this activity should be aerobic¹² exercise, such as biking, swimming or running. Aerobic activity can strengthen the heart and lungs by making them work hard for several minutes or more.

Exercise should also include muscle- and bone-strengthening activities, such as climbing trees or playground equipment and playing sports. Experts suggest that children get this kind of exercise at least three times a week.

For adults

For adults, the suggested length of time for exercise remains¹³ the same.

“So for adults, the guidelines recommend 150 minutes per week of moderate to vigorous physical activity. That could be brisk walking; it could mowing¹⁴ the lawn; it could be gardening; it could be dancing … any kind of activity that gets your heart rate up and gets you exercising moderately.”

The federal government has changed its guidance for the amount of aerobic exercise adults should have.

Earlier guidelines stated that aerobic activity is only effective if it lasts for at least 10 minutes.

Experts now say that even short amounts of aerobics¹⁵ can help. It can provide short-term health benefits, such as lowering blood pressure, reducing anxiety and improving sleep. They also think adults need at least two days of muscle-strengthening exercise like pushups or lifting weights.

For adults over 65

The advice for older adults remains mostly unchanged from earlier federal guidelines.

However, those over age 65 should include activities that help aid balance and flexibility¹⁶. Better balance means fewer falls and less chance of injury.

Sitting too much is still very bad

The new guidelines have changed nothing about the dangers of sitting too much. It is especially harmful and can even undo¹⁷ the benefits of exercise you may have gained.

And that’s the Health & Lifestyle report. I’m Anna Matteo.

Words in This Story

previous – adj. going before in time or order

essentially – adv. in essence : fundamentally —used to identify or stress the basic or essential character or nature of a person or thing or to say that a description is basically true or accurate

vigorous – adj. done with great force and energy

engage – v. to take part in or cause to take part in something

treadmill – n. an exercise machine which has a large belt that moves around while a person walks or runs on it

benefit – n. a good or helpful result or effect

anxiety – n. fear or nervousness about what might happen

recommend – v. to say that (someone or something) is good and deserves to be chosen

brisk – adj. done with quickness and energy

flexibility – n. ability to bend

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 attain   

vt.达到，获得，完成

参考例句：

• I used the scientific method to attain this end. 我用科学的方法来达到这一目的。
• His painstaking to attain his goal in life is praiseworthy. 他为实现人生目标所下的苦功是值得称赞的。

3 attaining   

（通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况）

参考例句：

• Jim is halfway to attaining his pilot's licence. 吉姆就快要拿到飞行员执照了。
• By that time she was attaining to fifty. 那时她已快到五十岁了。

4 obese   

adj.过度肥胖的，肥大的

参考例句：

• The old man is really obese,it can't be healthy.那位老人确实过于肥胖了，不能算是健康。
• Being obese and lazy is dangerous to health.又胖又懒危害健康。

5 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。

6 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

7 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

8 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

9 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。

10 treadmill   

n.踏车；单调的工作

参考例句：

• The treadmill has a heart rate monitor.跑步机上有个脉搏监视器。
• Drugs remove man from the treadmill of routine.药物可以使人摆脱日常单调的工作带来的疲劳。

11 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

12 aerobic   

adj.需氧的，增氧健身法的，有氧的

参考例句：

• Aerobic exercise helps to build up stamina.有氧健身操有助于增强耐力。
• Aerobic dance is conductive to the health.有氧舞蹈有助于健康。

13 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

14 mowing   

n.割草，一次收割量，牧草地v.刈，割( mow的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The lawn needs mowing. 这草坪的草该割了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• "Do you use it for mowing?" “你是用它割草么？” 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

15 aerobics   

n.健身操，健美操，韵律操

参考例句：

• Doing aerobics is a good way to improve one's health.做有氧健身操是改善健康状况的一个好方法。
• Aren't you going to the aerobics class this morning?今天上午你不是去上有氧运动课吗？

16 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

17 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。