Better Medicine lists
10 Reasons to Keep Fit as You Age. They are
- Increasing bone density and limiting osteoporosis
- Helping one stay independent
- Increasing metabolism
- Reducing the risk of falls
- Making one more flexible
- Gives one a reason to be more sociable
- Improves one's mood,
- and finally helps one's body.
(#8-#10 are benefits to one's lungs and heart, and the prevention and control of diabetes.)
Now, as they report, much physical activity has been engineered out of the everyday lives of people. It's gotten to a point where for many folks, activity has to be specifically scheduled into one's day. The last item that the article lists, namely parking further away from one's destination and walking, is a good idea. But wouldn't it be much more productive and fun if physical activity could be part of everyday life itself? Having an extensive complete streets network, where people may readily walk or bike to work and to run chores doing the same would go a long way toward achieving such.
And for those who don't care about their own health, all this convenience is expensive. It's been estimated that that to cover the additional health costs from engineering our communities around the automobile would require an additional $9/gal tax on gasoline. References available on request. Of course we'll never get a $9/gal tax so the cost is shifted elsewhere.
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