Food insecurity is defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as “a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food.” Generally, this indicator refers to households who don’t have enough food, particularly healthy food, to eat due to a lack of money and other resources. There are slight variations …
Regular physical activity provides several long-term benefits that can help prevent and treat mental health disorders. Fitness professionals can support the mental and physical well-being of their clients by implementing some basic strategies that address their health from a 360-degree perspective. 1. What do they like to do? Identify and encourage activities that best fit …
When we think about the most important actions that we can take to protect our health, we usually consider behaviors such as partaking in regular physical activity or eating a nutritious diet. Yet, an often-overlooked aspect of maintaining a healthy lifestyle is sleep. Sleep has serious implications for your physical and mental health. Adequate sleep …
We can all agree that the COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on our lives and lifestyle in 2020 and continues yet today. Millions were sickened by the virus and hundreds of thousands lost family members. However, not everyone’s lifestyle was affected the same way. Millions lost their jobs, while others saw reduction in their …
Regular physical activity is one of the most important things that people can do to support their health. Being active can immediately help people feel better after each session of activity, and regular physical activity can reduce the risk of many chronic diseases and premature death. Although the benefits of physical activity are well known, …
The American Fitness Index scores the country’s 100 largest cities (based on population) on 34 indicators of health. These indicators are broken into two categories: personal health, which measures the health of residents in the community, and community/environment, which measures both efforts that are undertaken by local authorities to promote health and fitness and the …
Moving to a new city in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic could have made for a difficult transition. Without the typical options of going out to restaurants, concerts or sporting events, getting to know our new home presented with some challenges. When my husband and I moved to Minneapolis in June of 2020, we …
Active transportation has important environmental, health and economic benefits. Promoting active modes of transportation including walking, cycling and wheelchair or stroller rolling, can increase physical activity, benefit both individuals and communities economically and play a role reducing air pollution. In some areas, active transportation can replace motor vehicle use entirely. More commonly, though, physical activity …
Over the last century, the human lifespan has undergone dramatic changes. At the start of the 20th century, the average lifespan at birth for women and men in the United States was 50 years. In 2021, the average life expectancy is around 77 years (1). This increasing lifespan trend is expected to continue rising to …
February is American Heart Month, and there is no better time to appreciate the benefits of cardiovascular fitness and a strong heart! Heart disease is the leading chronic disease cause of mortality in the U.S., accounting for one in every four deaths1. Cardiovascular fitness plays an important role in reducing not only deaths from heart …
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