Health and Wellness
Utilization of the Talk Test with Military Personnel
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Lauren Holzberg, Minhyun Kim, Galen Morton, Eric Vasconselles
A person's physical fitness is an ever changing, growing, and advancing process. Today in America society, people are taught at an early age that they should be physically fit, active, and healthy; unfortunately, not all of us live up to that standard. In the closing decades of the 20th Century, American society, is being bombarded with commercials and medical adds discussing the ever increasing cases of childhood obesity, childhood diabetes, and high blood pressure in young adults (Gale, 2002). Today, most children are often fed candy and junk food while playing video games and watching television. "It is widely accepted that increase in obesity results from an imbalance between energy intake and expenditure, with an increase in positive energy balance being closely associated with the lifestyle adopted and the dietary intake preferences" (Sahoo, et al. 2015). By the time children are at the age of adulthood, they are so far out of shape that it is next to impossible to get them in healthy condition. "Overweight and obese children are likely to stay obese into adulthood and more likely to develop non-communicable diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases at a younger age" (Sahoo, et al. 2015).
Walking towards Better Health, One Step at a Time
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Agnes Coutinho
Health professionals are recommending exercise, often in the form of walking, to encourage the population to be physically active in order to offset the negative side effects of sedentary living. Despite the overwhelming evidence in support of exercise in reducing these negative effects, research suggests that those that are at risk of cardiovascular and metabolic complications, generally lead sedentary lives and report below average levels of physical activity. This paper discusses the recent trends and growing popularity of the activity of Nordic walking. Nordic walking has been shown to have many positive health benefits, compared to walking without poles. Adding poles increases exercise tolerance and personal exertion limits, which allows participants to walk further and longer. The aim is to examine the recent literature related to the effects of Nordic walking on prevention and management of chronic diseases, as well as to present resent case studies examining impact of Nordic walking programs in Canadian Aboriginal communities, within a workplace setting and as part of diabetes education sessions in a clinical setting. These examples provide evidence of increased participation and rate of adherence, ease of transition from clinic to community and overall improved quality of life directly related to participation in a Nordic walking program.
