Loathesome vulture. That’s how Rhonda feels, as she circles a campus parking lot, tailing yet another vehicle, praying that a driver pulls out, so that she won’t have to trek a half mile or more to get to class.
Frustrated, she reaches for a greasy bag of fries from the lunch she picked up at the drive thru. That is when she hears a terrible sound: A blast she thought was manufactured only for comedic effect on television. Yes, to make a bad day worse, she has split her pants.
Rhonda is suffering from a problem many Americans face, the weight of Americans has been creeping up over the last decade.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 65 percent of Americans are overweight or obese, with the greatest problem being among African-American women. And to make matter worse, exercise has become passe, with only 25 percent of Americans getting the recommended 60 accumulated minutes of daily physical activity.
Being overweight and sedentary has serious health consequences. Excess body weight and inactivity significantly increase your risk for the leading health problems in our country, such as heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes,osteoarthritis, and certain cancers; all health conditions that can seriously compromise quality of life and result in death.
How can Rhonda solve these problems?
Rhonda needs to move more and eat less. By eliminating her vulture-like ways in the parking lot and embracing the periphery parking lots on campus, Rhonda can add functional exercise to her daily life and decrease her risk for disease.