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Global indicators on the costs of healthy diets and how many people cant afford them

Today, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released country-by-country indicators about healthy diets that show how much they cost, how many people cant afford them, and what food groups they include. The data show that even though the world has made progress in providing enough calories to feed everyone, there is still a long way to go before everyone can be fed in a sustainable way.

FAO recently did a thorough study of how many people can actually afford a healthy diet that includes a variety of nutrient-rich foods and is in line with dietary recommendations.

The result was a wake-up call: Billions of people around the world cant afford to eat well.

Now, the indicators made by FAO with help from researchers at Tufts University and the World Bank show, for example, that a healthy diet will cost $3.89 per person per day in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2020. This is the most expensive region, followed by Asia ($3.72), Africa ($3.46), Northern America and Europe ($3.19), and Oceania ($3.07).

The cost of a healthy diet went up the most (4%) in Asia between 2019 and 2020. This was followed by Oceania (3.6%), Latin America and the Caribbean (3.4%), North America and Europe (3.2%), and Africa (4%). (2.5 percent).

Nearly 3.1 billion people wont be able to afford a healthy diet in 2020, which is 112 million more than in 2019. This is because a healthy diet will cost more in 2020. This was mostly because 78 million more people in Asia couldnt afford this diet. This was followed by 25 million more people in Africa and, to a lesser extent, Latin America, the Caribbean, North America, and Europe (8 and 1 million more people, respectively).

In 12 countries, all of which are in Africa, more than 90% of the people cant afford to eat healthy food every day.

More than half of the people in 53 countries for which data are available feel the same way. This number is less than 1% in 26 countries.

Open to everyone

On FAOs easy-to-use data hub, the set of indicators is now available for anyone to look at and download. FAOSTAT is the largest data platform for food and agriculture in the world. It has more than 245 countries and territories and more than 20,000 indicators.

FAO now has a system in place to calculate, track, and report on the cost and affordability of a healthy diet (CoAHD) at the global, regional, and country levels. This system will be kept up to date regularly. This is a powerful new way to measure how far the world has come in making healthy food affordable for everyone.

These indicators are based on an integrated set of data, which is calculated based on factors like the retail prices of locally available foods and food-based dietary guidelines, the ways in which countries distribute household income, and the formulas needed to figure out purchasing power parities.

David Laborde, Director of FAOs Agrifood Economics Division, said, Ending hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition in all its forms (including undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, overweight, and obesity) is about more than making sure people have enough food to live. What people eat must also be healthy. Yet, the high cost of healthy foods and the fact that a healthy diet is out of reach for a lot of people around the world is a major problem.

FAOs Director of Food and Nutrition, Lynnette Neufeld, said, Tracking the cost and affordability of healthy diets is a step toward recognizing the need to nourish and not just feed the world. This new method also gives us a place to start gathering locally relevant evidence to help shape policies and programs that make healthy diets affordable for everyone, always.

This FAO CoAHD project is part of a larger set of activities that will help achieve one of FAOs four goals in its 20222031 Strategic Framework: better nutrition.

It is of the utmost importance and a pressing need to measure and keep track of the cost and affordability of healthy diets in a systematic way, and to make progress toward making sure healthy diets are affordable. FAO has stepped up and agreed to do this, said Jos Rosero Moncayo, who is in charge of the Statistics Division at FAO.

How things work

FAO figures out eight cost and affordability indicators.

Dietary guidelines based on food groups say that a healthy diet has enough calories and the right kinds of nutrient-rich foods from different food groups. A representative adult eating 2,330 kilocalories per day was used to figure out the reference diet. This is a method that is often used for food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs). The reference healthy diet is made up of the least expensive locally available foods from the six food groups (staples, vegetables, fruits, foods from animals, legumes, nuts and seeds, and oils and fats) in the recommended portion sizes.

The World Banks International Comparison Program (ICP) and national consumer food price indices are used to get the prices of these foods at the consumer level. For international comparisons, prices are changed into international dollars using purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rates and national income distributions. The affordability threshold is set at 52% of the average cost of living for a household.

Future prospects

Now that these indicators are available on a global, regional, and country level, it will be easier to hold people accountable by using up-to-date information on the retail prices of healthy food items in all countries of the world. In the future, work will make it faster to update price data.

This project is a part of FAOs larger goal to gather evidence to help countries make decisions about their food and nutrition policies. FAO encourages its Members and all other interested parties to use these indicators and report on them at the subnational level. This will help make policies and programs that have a bigger impact on the ground. FAO and the Pakistani government are already working on this kind of plan.

In July 2023, the next report on the worlds food security and nutrition will be released.

Editorial Staff

Our Editorial Staff at St. Vincent Times is a team publishing news and other articles to over 300,000 regular monthly readers in over 110 other countries worldwide.

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People who follow a healthy lifestyle do more than just manage their diet and make good food choices. They also tend to get regular exercise, keep alcohol in check, dont smoke and manage their weight.

Positive clusters like these have a beneficial impact on physical and mental health.

But negative actions also can cluster together, which is why people who smoke often tend to drink more heavily, have poor diets and get little exercise.

Being aware of how certain behaviors cluster together and interact can help improve your health and also have significant effects on your diet.

Grace Derocha, a dietitian and national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics based in Detroit, often sees these cluster behaviors.

On the negative side, it could be that you went to bed too late the night before, then couldnt wake up in the morning, so you missed your workout, Derocha says. Then, you dont have time to eat breakfast, and you dont make and pack your lunch.

Or maybe youve had a stressful day, and you have a drink, then one drink turns into two or three, then you go to bed, you are dehydrated, and you dont sleep well. It turns into a cycle.

But creating positive habits and behaviors often starts with one simple change.

When you start exercising even a little, then its easier for you to drink more water, Derocha says. From there, maybe you increase your exercise and begin adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet, then add high-fiber foods and you sleep better, too. You begin treating your body right, so you feel better and you want to do more. It takes time, but thats when the magic happens.

To improve your health and diet, studies show the most influential and motivating factor is physical activity. Regular exercise can help control when and how much you eat, preventing weight gain and reducing obesity, and several studies suggest that activity can affect the type of food you eat, too.

A study published in the International Journal of Obesity evaluated dietary patterns via a questionnaire given to more than 2,000 sedentary college students before and after a 15-week exercise intervention.

The program consisted of aerobic exercise training three days a week. Despite being told not to change their diet, the researchers found that many participants started eating more nutritious foods, like fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fish and nuts, and fewer fried foods, pop and snack foods. The more they exercised, the healthier their diet became.

Other research also has found that exercise motivates people to eat a better diet.

People who begin to work out and want to see muscle definition or lose weight quickly realize diet does make a difference, Derocha says. Its a matter of nourishing your body and being your best self.

That doesnt happen overnight. It takes time, consistency and patience. It also means understanding whats important to you, what drives you and whats doable for you.

Here are a few other ways to stay on track:

Following a healthy lifestyle is more than changing your diet. Multiple health behaviors play a significant role.

Most people know what they should be doing, Derocha says. Its just a matter of motivating them to want to do it and empowering them to apply the knowledge they already have.

Environmental Nutrition is an independent newsletter written by experts on health and nutrition.

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Healthy means more than just eating right - Chicago Sun-Times

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While our top three weight loss programs were all recommended by two out of three of our experts, there were a few honorable mentions that also made the cut, based on the recommendation of at least one panelist.

This 30-day elimination diet focuses on whole, unprocessed foods and a 10-day re-introduction period. Its creators claim this short-term elimination can help with everything from digestive issues to energy levels. While Dr. Jampolis cautions that this restrictive way of eating is challenging to follow over the long term, she recommends it as a reboot to get you off highly processed foods that have been linked to increased risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, dementia and obesity.

Developed by the prestigious medical institution it gets its name from, the The New Mayo Clinic diet is an updated digital version of its original weight loss program that claims to help provide sensible and sustainable weight loss via personalized meal plans, educational content, a food tracker and at home workouts. This program is designed to help lose excess weight and find a healthy way of eating that is sustainable for a lifetime, explains Dr. Wallace. It also teaches [users] to enjoy good nutrition.

A meal delivery and one-on-one coaching service, Jenny Craig focuses on portion control and support to help users lose weight. Research supports the idea of portion controlled food programs like Jenny Craig for weight loss, and even some degree of portion controlled prepared meals for weight maintenance, explains Dr. Jampolis. Still, she cautions that while Jenny Craig may help some individuals with weight loss, the meals are highly processed and may not be the most nutrient dense way to lose weight in the long term. Additionally, Dr. Jampolis notes that the Jenny Craig weight loss program may be expensive for some people and does not teach you how to control portions in the real world, i.e., once you stop receiving the brands pre-portioned meals.

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Best Weight Loss Programs Of 2023 Reviewed Forbes Health - Forbes

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The beautiful Caribbean Island of St. Thomson is a popular tourist destination around the world for its pristine beaches, wellness centers, and unique spa experience. From luxurious spas and yoga studios to world-class fitness centers, St. Thomas has numerous options for everyone to achieve the perfect mind and body wellness.

This article lists some of the best yoga studios, spas, and fitness centers in the incredible beach city of St.Thomas to have an ultimate pampering experience. So, let's start!

Related: St. Thomas, St. John, Or St. Croix: Which One Of The US Virgin Islands Is Right For You?

Located in the Virgin Islands, Spa To Go VI is a mobile spa service that offers a range of treatments in St.Thomson, making it a convenient spa option to enjoy in the comfort of your own space. The Spa offers a wide range of services, including facials, massages, body treatments, pedicures, and manicures with high-quality products. One of the highlights of this Spa is the fully customized experience. Clients can choose the type of massage, the time duration, and even the music that is played during the session, allowing for a truly personalized experience tailored to the individual's needs.

Located on the island of St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, Prna Spa is a luxury spa resort in California, nestled in the Frenchman's Reef, offering a wide range of treatments to help the guests relax and unwind in a serene setting. The guests at the Spa can achieve a state of inner peace and harmony through various treatments, including massages, body scrubs, facials, and wraps. They also offer specialty treatments such as hot stone massages, aromatherapy, and reflexology.

Marriott's Frenchman's Cove is among the best luxury resort located in the US Virgin Islands, featuring a full-service spa and fitness center offering various services and amenities for the guests to relax during their stay. The spa offers a wide array variety of treatments, including massages, facials, body treatments, and nail services, featuring private treatment rooms for guests to enjoy their treatments in a peaceful atmosphere. Additionally, the fitness center at the resort is equipped with state-of-the-art cardio and strength training equipment, providing group fitness classes, such as yoga and Pilates, catering to guests of all fitness levels.

Related:10 All-Inclusives That Are A Dream In St. Thomas

Abounader Fitness USVI is a popular fitness center located in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, offering a variety of fitness programs and services to help individuals achieve their fitness goals in a welcoming and supportive environment. The center is equipped with cardio and strength training equipment, including treadmills, weight machines, ellipticals, and free weights, offering a variety of group fitness classes, including Pilates, Yoga, Zumba, and boot camps. They also offer personal training services with certified trainers and personalized workout plans tailored to their specific needs and fitness level. Healthier lifestyle.

Rock Life CrossFit is a popular fitness center located in the US Virgin Islands. The center offers a challenging workout experience with a variety of functional movements, weightlifting, and cardiovascular training to help individuals improve their overall health. The workouts at Rock Life CrossFit are tailored to be scalable to suit individuals of all fitness levels. The center also hosts a variety of programs and classes, including, Olympic weightlifting, CrossFit, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) for uphill hiking, yoga, endurance training, and mobility.

Synergy Fitness & Wellness is a famous fitness center and wellness studio in St. Thomas, offering an array of programs promoting health, fitness, and wellness at all levels. The center features numerous group classes and personalized training, including yoga, Zumba, cycling, and Pilates, led by experienced and certified trainers helping with nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle changes for the participants to achieve their fitness goals.

Related: More Than A Beach: A Guide On Everything You Can Do In St. Thomas

Affiliated with Reebok, Reebok CrossFit St. Thomas is a premier fitness center located in US Virgin Islands. The center offers a comprehensive CrossFit workout experience designed to incorporate a range of functional movements, high-intensity cardiovascular training, and weightlifting. The center offers a variety of programs and classes, including CrossFit, Olympic weightlifting, and some special classes, such as gymnastics and mobility training.

Ambient Yoga and Freediving is a unique fitness center and wellness studio in the US Virgin Islands and is among one of the best places for an ultimate yoga experience and freediving classes with a holistic approach to fitness and wellness. The yoga classes at the center are designed to help improve flexibility, strength, and balance, led by experienced instructors providing a variety of yoga styles, including Vinyasa, Hatha, and Restorative Yoga. Besides yoga and freediving classes, the center offers other wellness services such as massage therapy and nutritional counseling.

Beeston Hill Health and Wellness is a full-service fitness center and wellness studio fully equipped with state-of-the-art cardio and strength training equipment, including treadmills, ellipticals, weight machines, and free weights. The center also offers a variety of group fitness classes, including yoga, Pilates, and spinning, with personalized attention and guidance to help participants achieve their fitness goals. The other services provided by the center include massage therapy, acupuncture, and nutritional counseling to promote relaxation, reduce stress, and improve overall well-being.

Located in St. Thomsan, 4 Elements Culinary and Wellness Center is a unique fitness and wellness center combining culinary education with fitness and wellness classes to provide individuals with a unique perspective on health and fitness. The programs at the center are targeted at maintaining a healthy and nutritious lifestyle while keeping fitness and well-being in focus. The fitness programs at the center feature various forms of yoga, helping members to achieve mind and body wellness.

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St. Thomas Wellness: Where To Find The 10 Best Spas, Yoga ... - TheTravel

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Research Highlights:

Embargoed until 10:15 a.m. CT/11:15 a.m. ET, Friday, March 3, 2023

DALLAS, March 3, 2023 People who reported getting regular, uninterrupted sleep did a better job sticking to their exercise and diet plans while trying to lose weight, according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Associations Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle & Cardiometabolic Health Scientific Sessions 2023. The meeting will be held in Boston, February 28-March 3, 2023, and offers the latest science on population-based health and wellness and implications for lifestyle and cardiometabolic health.

Focusing on obtaining good sleep seven to nine hours at night with a regular wake time along with waking refreshed and being alert throughout the day may be an important behavior that helps people stick with their physical activity and dietary modification goals, said Christopher E. Kline, Ph.D., an associate professor in the department of health and human development at the University of Pittsburgh. A previous study of ours reported that better sleep health was associated with a significantly greater loss of body weight and fat among participants in a year-long, behavioral weight loss program.

The researchers examined whether good sleep health was related to how well people adhered to the various lifestyle modifications prescribed in a 12-month weight loss program. The weight-loss program included 125 adults (average age of 50 years, 91% female, 81% white) who met criteria for overweight or obesity (body mass index of 27-44) without any medical conditions requiring medical supervision of their diet or physical activity.

Sleep habits were measured at the beginning of the program, at 6 months and at 12 months, through patient questionnaires, a sleep diary and 7-day readings from a wrist-worn device that recorded sleep, waking activity and rest. These measures were used to score each participant as good or poor on six measures of sleep: regularity; satisfaction; alertness; timing; efficiency (the percentage of time spent in bed when actually asleep); and duration. A composite sleep health score of 0-6 was calculated for each participant, with one point for each good measure of sleep health, with higher scores indicating better levels of sleep health.

Adherence to the weight loss program was measured by percentage of group intervention sessions attended; percentage of days in which each participant ate between 85-115% of their recommended daily calories; and change in daily duration of moderate or vigorous physical activity. Participants had an average sleep health score of 4.5 out of 6 at the start of the study, at 6 months and at 12 months. Participants self-reported their caloric intake each day using a phone app and researchers measured participants physical activity with an accelerometer worn at the waist for one week at a time at the start of the study, at 6 months and at 12 months.

After adjusting the sleep health scores for age, gender, race and whether or not there was a partner sharing the bed, the researchers found that better sleep health was associated with higher rates of attendance at group interval sessions, adherence to caloric intake goals and improvement in time spent performing moderate-vigorous physical activity. They found:

The decrease in group session attendance, caloric intake and in time spent in moderate-vigorous activity in the second six months was expected, Kline said. As one continues in a long-term behavioral weight loss intervention, its normal for the adherence to weight loss behaviors to decrease, he said.

Additionally, while there was an association between better sleep health scores and an increase in physical activity, it was not strong enough to be statistically significant, meaning that researchers cannot rule out that the results were due to chance.

We had hypothesized that sleep would be associated with lifestyle modification; however, we didnt expect to see an association between sleep health and all three of our measures of lifestyle modification, he said. Although we did not intervene on sleep health in this study, these results suggest that optimizing sleep may lead to better lifestyle modification adherence.

The studys limitations include that it did not incorporate any intervention to help participants improve their sleep, that the study sample was not recruited based upon participants sleep health characteristics, and that the overall sample population had relatively good sleep health at baseline. The sample was also primarily white and female, so it is unclear whether these results are generalizable to more diverse populations.

One question of interest for future research is whether we can increase adherence to lifestyle modifications and, ultimately, increase weight loss if we improve a persons sleep health, Kline said.

A second question for the researchers is how such an intervention would be timed to improve sleep.

It remains unclear whether it would be best to optimize sleep prior to rather than during attempted weight loss. In other words, should clinicians tell their patients to focus on getting better and more regular sleep before they begin to attempt weight loss, or should they try to improve their sleep while at the same time modifying their diet and activity levels? Kline said.

Improving ones sleep health is something everyone can do to improve their cardiovascular health and is a key component of the American Heart Associations Lifes Essential 8. Sleep was added in 2022 as the eighth component of optimal cardiovascular health,which includes eating healthy food, being physically active, not smoking, getting enough sleep, maintaining a healthy weight and controlling cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure levels.Cardiovascular disease claims more lives each year in the U.S. than all forms of cancer and chronic lower respiratory disease combined, according to the 2023 Statistical Update from the American Heart Association.

There are over 100 studies linking sleep to weight gain and obesity, but this was a great example showing how sleep isn't just tied to weight itself, it's tied to the things we're doing to help manage our own weight. This could be because sleep impacts the things that drive hunger and cravings, your metabolism and your ability to regulate metabolism and the ability to make healthy choices in general, said Michael A. Grandner, Ph.D., MTR. Grandner is director of the Sleep and Heath Research Program at the University of Arizona, director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Clinic at the Banner-University Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona, and was a co-author of the Associations Lifes Essential 8 cardiovascular health score. Studies like this really go to show that all of these things are connected, and sometimes sleep is the thing that we can start taking control over that can help open doors to other avenues of health.

Co-authors are Christopher C. Imes, Ph.D., R.N.; Susan M. Sereika, Ph.D.; Daniel J. Buysse, M.D.; Bonny Rockette-Wagner, Ph.D.; Zhadyra Bizhanova, Ph.D.; and Lora E. Burke, Ph.D., M.P.H. Authors disclosures are listed in the abstract.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, a division of the National Institutes of Health, funded the study.

Statements and conclusions of studies that are presented at the American Heart Associations scientific meetings are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the Associations policy or position. The Association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. Abstracts presented at the Associations scientific meetings are not peer-reviewed, rather, they are curated by independent review panels and are considered based on the potential to add to the diversity of scientific issues and views discussed at the meeting. The findings are considered preliminary until published as a full manuscript in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

The Association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific Association programs and events. The Association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and biotech companies, device manufacturers and health insurance providers and the Associations overall financial information are available here.

Additional Resources:

The American Heart Associations EPI/LIFESTYLE 2023 Scientific Sessions is the worlds premier meeting dedicated to the latest advances in population-based science. The meeting will be held Tuesday-Friday, February 28 March 3, 2023, at the Omni Boston Seaport in Boston, Massachusetts. The primary goal of the meeting is to promote the development and application of translational and population science to prevent heart disease and stroke and foster cardiovascular health. The sessions focus on risk factors, obesity, nutrition, physical activity, genetics, metabolism, biomarkers, subclinical disease, clinical disease, healthy populations, global health and prevention-oriented clinical trials. The Councils on Epidemiology and Prevention and Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health (Lifestyle) jointly planned the EPI/Lifestyle 2023 Scientific Sessions. Follow the conference on Twitter at #EPILifestyle23.

About the American Heart Association

The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. We are dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities. Through collaboration with numerous organizations, and powered by millions of volunteers, we fund innovative research, advocate for the publics health and share lifesaving resources. The Dallas-based organization has been a leading source of health information for nearly a century. Connect with us on heart.org, Facebook, Twitter or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.

###

For Media Inquiries and AHA Expert Perspective:

AHA Communications & Media Relations in Dallas: 214-706-1173; ahacommunications@heart.org

John Arnst: John.Arnst@heart.org 214-706-1060

For Public Inquiries: 1-800-AHA-USA1 (242-8721)

heart.org and stroke.org

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A good night's sleep may make it easier to stick to exercise and diet ... - American Heart Association

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Sharie Murray noticed the benefits of getting kids moving during the pandemic.

The K-3 special education teacher and her colleagues at North Elementary School in Birch Run, Mich., started to use short exercise videos to keep students occupied during waiting times over Zoom, but Murray said getting students blood moving also helped them focus more during the virtual class periods.

It was amazing, Murray said. The [activity] break allows the kids to escape a bit, use their energy to perform a dance or workout piece or whatever, and then the kids are able to regroup and then focus on the task at hand. And once we were able to get back into the norm in class, we wanted to pilot it in person.

North Elementary and others in the Birch Run area school district have been ramping up short, four to five-minute activity breaks as part of InPACT, short for Interrupting Prolonged sitting with ACTivity, a University of Michigan-Ann Arbor program focused on boosting physical activity in classrooms to improve students fitness, attention, and mental health. In the process, researchers and educators hope to make the common class activity break more high-impact.

This isnt something new, but [schools] are just not doing activity breaks consistently and theyre running into too many barriers, said Rachael Hasson, an associate professor of movement science and the director of the Childhood Disparities Research Laboratory at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. There are so many things being put on a teachers plate right now. Sometimes classroom activity breaks and physical activity programs are just one more thing that teachers have to fit into their curriculum, one more thing that they have to try to organize.

While the vast majority of K-8 teachers report using at least some physical activity breaks in their classes, Hasson and her colleagues found that only about 1 in 5 teachers provide at least 10 minutes a day of moderate-to-vigorous activity during class. Thats the minimum recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine for school-age children and adolescents, and it requires exercise intense enough that a child boosts his heart rate and perspires, but can still talk without gasping for breath.

The need to get kids moving has become more urgent in the last few years. U.S. children and adolescents get 17 fewer minutes a day of even moderate exercise today than they did before 2020, and fewer than 1 in 10 of those ages 6-17 now meet the federal recommendations of at least 60 minutes total of moderate-to-vigorous daily exercise, according to the U.S. Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth. Thats less than half the share of children who got enough exercise in 2018. And the drops in exercise were especially pronounced among students in poverty.

While activity breaks have gained traction in schools in the last decade, large-scale studies of physical activity in the classroom have shown mixed effects based on the wide variation in how schools implement them.

It appears from the outside that school is one of the ideal settings [to increase students activity levels, said Joseph Donnelly, professor of internal medicine and director of physical activity and weight management science at the University of Kansas Medical Center. He studies the long-term effects of school-based physical activity programs. Schools have the physical structure, a history of physical education, so theyre delivering some sort of movement, they have educated peopleit seems sort of like a no-brainer. But its very difficult in the modern school to get teachers on board to sacrifice time for physical activity.

Hasson and her colleagues found that higher-poverty schools tended to have more barriers to implementing physical activity breaks effectively: They had less free space, fewer resources, and teacher professional development options related to integrating physical activity in class, and more pressure to use school time only for academic instruction. And while most of the high-poverty schools Hasson studied did have student wellness policies, they focused mainly on nutrition rather than exercise. Classroom activity was not integrated into the schools broader plans for student wellness.

As a result, the higher-poverty schools averaged only about eight minutes of activity breaks a day, compared to 16 minutes a day in high-income, highly resourced schools.

That compounds over time as you look at that per week, per month, per academic year, considering all the different benefits that come with regular physical activity and engagement in the classroom, because high-resourced schools already have many different opportunities for kids to be physically active inside and outside of school, Hasson said. Thats why implementation and equity have to go hand in hand.

Teachers participating in InPACT were trained in how to manage classroom behavior during breaks, guide students exercise intensity using prompts and tempo cues, and arrange their classroom spaces to make it easier to transition to and from activities. Educators also had access to a library of 200 activities and short videos they could use during breaks.

Kristine Paquette, the principal of Birch Runs North Elementary, said some teachers use the activity breaks to reinforce lessons, such as kindergarten teachers using counting songs or phonics. But Heather Erwin, a professor of kinesiology and health promotion at the University of Kentucky and editor of the Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, said analyses of dozens of studies find activity breaks that include academic content dont seem to be more or less effective in boosting students attention and activity levels. Its more important that students keep their heart rates up over the break and do a few breaks over the course of the day.

You can have these exercise snacks these small bursts throughout the day, Hasson said, who structured InPACT around four-minute activity breaks scattered through the day. So, 20 minutes sounds very overwhelming to a teacher who has not implemented activity breaks, but we can start with one break, allow teachers to establish their classroom procedures and then they can increase it over time as the breaks become more comfortable for them and their students. Even with one minute, you can start to see improvements in energy and refocusing, but we have found that four minutes gives you a nice burst of energy and primes the brain for learning.

Paquette said her teachers use the activity breaks as much for mental well-being as for physical health. The school has integrated the program into its positive behavioral intervention and supports system for managing students with behavior issues.

We want healthy kids, we want physically fit kids. We want kids that are able to mentally self-regulate, Paquette said. At the outset, people were really concerned about time because time is always such a precious commodity. But we notice when teachers use it that it helps students stay in the classroom versus being sent to the office for a timeout of some sort or a reprimand.

Murray, North Elementarys special education teacher, said the breaks have been particularly effective for students with anxiety or attention-deficit disorders. She now uses five or more four-minute breaks over the course of a typical day, usually during transitions.

Movement was a huge behavior management piece for me personally, Murray said. You could have your lesson plan and think you have to hurry upget through chapter 6.5 before going to chapter seven because our standardized test is comingbut the more youre dealing with behavior the longer it takes, and if you stop and give them a quick break, youre not gonna be wasting as much time dealing with behaviors because theyve been able to exert that energy somewhere else.

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Students Need More Exercise. Here's How to Add Activity Without ... - Education Week

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SAN DIEGO As mounting evidence points to the benefits of physical activity (PA) for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), researchers at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto have developed a mobile app to encourage young patients with the disease to become more active.

The smartphone-based app provides tailored PA information, coaching advice, and tools to increase social connectedness.

A pilot study examining whether the intervention changes activity, depression, and fatigue levels should be wrapped up later this year, but it looks as though the app is succeeding.

Dr E. Ann Yeh

"The feedback we've gotten so far from our coaches is that the kids seem highly motivated," one of the creators, E. Ann Yeh, MD, professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto and director of the Pediatric MS and Neuroinflammatory Disorders Program at the Hospital for Sick Children, told Medscape Medical News.

Preliminary work showed that use of the app was associated with a 31% increase in PA.

They discussed this and other studies of the role of exercise in MS here at the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) Forum 2023.

Studies show that youths with MS who are less physically active are more likely to experience higher levels of fatigue and depression. Evidence suggests just 15 to 30 more minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) makes a clinical difference in terms of improved depression and fatigue scores, said Yeh.

With moderate PA (for example, a brisk walk or raking the yard), the maximal heart rate (HRmax) reaches 64% to 76%, while with vigorous PA (which includes jogging/running or participating in a strenuous fitness class), the HRmax reaches 77% to 93%.

Yeh described vigorous PA as "the stuff that makes you sweat, makes your heart rate go up, and makes you not be able to talk when you're moving."

As it stands, kids get very little MVPA 9.5 min/d, which is well below the recommended 60 min/d.

Adults do a bit better 18.7 min/d of MVPA but this is still below the recommended 30 min/d.

Being physically active improves fatigue for adults as well as kids. Yeh referred to a network meta-analysis of 27 studies involving 1470 participants that evaluated 10 types of exercise interventions, including yoga, resistance training, dance, and aquatic activities. It found that exercise "does move the needle," she said. "Regardless of the kind of activity that was studied, fatigue seemed to improve."

The authors of that study ranked aquatic exercise as the most effective intervention. "It's possible that aquatics worked better because people who can't move well feel more comfortable in the water," Yeh told Medscape Medical News.

But she cautioned that the one study in the meta-analysis that found a "quite strong" effect of aquatic exercise was "very small."

With regard to depression, which affects about 30% of people with MS, Yeh told the meeting, "unfortunately, the data are less clear" when it comes to PA for adults,. One meta-analysis of 15 randomized controlled trials involving 331 exercising participants and 260 control persons found that only a few studies showed positive effects of exercise on depressive symptoms.

However, Yeh noted that in this review, the baseline depressive symptoms of participants were "above the cutoff level," which makes it more difficult to demonstrate change in depression levels.

Researchers have also described clear brain structural and functional effects from being physically active. For example, MVPA has been shown to affect brain volume, and it has been associated with better optical coherence tomography (OCT) metrics, which measures retinal thinning.

As for the impact of exercise on memory deficits, which is of interest, given the current focus on Alzheimer's disease, "the jury is still out," said Yeh. One 24-week randomized controlled trial found no difference in results on the Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological tests between participants who engaged in progressive aerobic exercise and control persons.

However, said Yeh, "the problem may not be with the intervention but with the outcome measures" and potentially with the populations studied.

It might be a different story for high-intensity exercise, though. A study by Danish researchers assessed the effects of a 24-week high-intensity intervention among 84 adult patients with mild-severe impairment.

The primary outcome of that study, which was the percentage of brain volume change, was not met, possibly because the study was too short. There were significant results for some secondary endpoints, including improved cardiorespiratory fitness and lower relapse rate.

"Even though on the face of it, it sounds like a negative study, there were important outcomes," said Yeh.

Research into the possible mechanisms behind positive effects of PA is limited with regard to patients with MS, said Yeh. Some studies have implicated certain circulating factors, such as the cytokine irisin and brain-derived neurotrophic factor, but more work is needed, she said.

"There is need for further mechanistic knowledge related to exercise in MS, and this must be accomplished through prospective, randomized studies."

While exercise likely makes some difference for MS patients, the problem is in getting them to be more active. "You can't just write a prescription," said Yeh.

"Patients should be doing whatever they can, but gradually, and should not go crazy at the beginning because they'll just burn out," she said.

She stressed that patients need to find what works for them personally. It's also important for them to find ways to be active with a friend who can be "a motivator" to help sustain PA goals, said Yeh.

Patients can also look online for remote PA programs geared to people with MS, which popped up during the pandemic.

Commenting for Medscape Medical News, Marwa Kaisey, MD, assistant professor of neurology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, in Los Angeles, California, who co-chaired the session highlighting the presentation, praised Yeh's "excellent talk," which highlighted the "strong benefit" of exercise for patients with MS.

"As a clinician, I often talk to my patients about the importance of physical exercise and have heard countless anecdotes of how their workout programs helped improve mood, cognition, pain, or sleep."

However, she agreed there are several areas "where we need more data-driven solutions and a mechanistic understanding of the benefits of physical exercise."

The pilot study was funded by the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers. The MS Society of Canada funded early work on the app, and the National MS Society is funding the trial of the app. Yeh receives support from the MS Society of Canada. Kaisey reports no relevant financial relationships.

Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) Forum 2023: Session 6.2. Presented February 25, 2023.

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Pilates is a form of low-impact exercise with moves that help strengthen your muscles while improving posture, mobility, and flexibility. This exercise program, which was developed in the early 1900s by Joseph Pilates, is designed to coordinate your breathing with your body movements resulting in more body control.

Originally known as "controlology," Pilates offers a number of health benefits including improving your mobility, helping to manage pain, and building muscle endurance. Typically, workouts last about 45 minutes or longer in a class setting, but there are some Pilates workouts you can do in 20 to 30 minutes at home.

Keep reading to find out how Pilates can impact your health as well as how to implement a program at home.

Pilates is a low-impact exercise program that's good for any age. Whether you are bored with your current fitness routine or you are just looking to exercise more and improve your flexibility, Pilates may be exactly what you are looking for. Here is an overview of some of the potential health benefits of Pilates.

If you are looking to improve your functional movementthe type of movement that helps you complete everyday tasks like walking, sitting, standing, and carrying thingsthen you may want to consider Pilates. Not only can it help your movements become more fluid, but it also can help you develop more balance and stability.

In fact, a study found that people who practiced Pilates for 1 hour, three times a week for eight weeks showed increased balance, stability, and mobility. What's more, the study participants showed more improvementor scored higher on their functional movement screeningsthan the group performing yoga.

Pilates also is great for anyone looking to build muscle strength and endurance. This is largely due to the concentrated effort and control it requires to perform the moves.

For instance, one older studyfound that people who did 1 hour of Pilates twice a week for 12 weeks experienced significant increases in both abdominal endurance and upper-body muscular endurance.

Meanwhile, another study found that people who completed two Pilates sessions a week over three months showed improvements in lower body strength and postural balance. And, a study of postmenopausal women found that Pilates helped strengthen their upper body, lower body, and abdominal muscles.

There is emerging research suggesting that Pilates may be useful for coping with different forms of pain. In fact, in one preliminary study on those with fibromyalgia found that people who consistently participate in Pilates may experience less anxiety and more pain relief.

There also is some evidence that Pilates may be useful in reducing pain caused by osteoarthritis. A randomized controlled study found that people with knee pain benefitted more from doing Pilates than conventional therapeutic exercise.

Pilates may even be useful during pregnancy and lead to better labor and delivery outcomes. For instance, a randomized clinical trial of pregnant women found that those who participated in Pilates twice a week during pregnancy had improved labors with fewer C-sections, episiotomies, and obstructed labor. They also had lower blood pressure and more flexibility.

Like many exercise programs, Pilates can boost your mood and help manage symptoms of anxiety and depression. Some of this boost in energy and mood may be related to the mind-body connection that occurs when practicing Pilates, as well as the fact that working out can boost your endorphinsor those feel-good hormones.

What's more, there are plenty of studies illustrating the positive impact Pilates can have on your mood. For instance, a meta-analysis of eight Pilates studies found that those who practiced Pilates reported fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression. They also had more energy and were less fatigued.

Researchers note that Pilates may be particularly useful for those who live sedentary lifestyles. Not only is it a low-impact way to stay active, but it can be particularly instrumental in improving quality of life.

In fact, one small study of sedentary women ages 61 to 67 showed that those who did 30-minute Pilates mat and equipment-based sessions twice a week for six months experienced significant improvements in their quality of life.

While Pilates and yoga are both low-impact, bodyweight workouts that emphasize the mind-body connection, they were created with different roles in mind. For instance, Pilates has a greater focus on building strength and stability in your core and your spine and was initially introduced by Joseph Pilates to dancers and other athletes recovering from injuries.

Meanwhile, yogawhich began in India thousands of years agohas more of a meditative focus. It blends the use of different poses (or asanas) with breathing techniques. And although both Pilates and yoga build core strength, yoga is more focused on stretching and expanding your consciousness through movement.

You can benefit from either discipline, especially because both build flexibility and strength, but Pilates is often more useful for physical rehabilitation. It also can help build your core strength. Meanwhile, yoga may be better for cardiovascular health, especially vinyasa yoga, which tends to be faster paced.

If you are interested in giving Pilates a try to see if it is right for you, you may want to try a few exercises at home first. Doing so, can help you get familiar with the movements and help you decide if you like it before joining a class or finding a studio.

What's more, there are plenty of online resources that allow you to practice the discipline in the comfort of your home. Here are some Pilates moves you can try, but keep in mind there are many more options than what is listed here.

Perhaps one of the most popular Pilates move is "the hundred," which is named after the 100 beats your arms make while holding your legs extended and your head and shoulders off the mat. Many times, this move is used at the beginning of a Pilates class. Here is how you do the hundred.

If your goal is to target your backside including the hamstrings, inner thighs, and obliques then the shoulder hip bridge is the move for you. Here is how to do the move.

People who are looking to really challenge their abdominal muscles, often want to try the roll up. That said, if you are new to Pilates, the best place to start is with the supported roll back and then transition to roll up once you have built up some strength. Here's how to do the supported roll back.

Once you have mastered the supported roll back, you may want to give the roll up a try. However, if you have low back pain or a low back injury, this exercise may not be right for you. At least talk with a healthcare provider before giving it a try.

Based on how difficult it is to master the roll up, it is not surprising that proponents of Pilates claim that this move can be more effective than traditional sit-ups or crunches. Here is how to do the roll up.

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Got 11 minutes? That modest amount of daily pulse-raising exercise is enough to reduce the risk of premature death and various diseases, a new review of studies has found.

It adds up to about 75 minutes a week of moderate-intensity physical activity, such as brisk walking, dancing, riding a bike, playing tennis or hiking anything that makes the heart beat faster but isnt so intense that it leaves a person breathless.

One in 10 premature deaths could be prevented if everyone met this goal, researchers reported Tuesday in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. It was enough to reduce the risk of developing heart disease by 17% and cancer by 7%, and came with a 23% lower risk of premature death.

The findings are based on a review and meta-analysis of 196 studies covering more than 30 million participants.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other agencies advise getting 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week, which seems to produce the maximum health benefits, according to the paper.

But even half that recommended amount makes an appreciable difference, as the new study shows, and people who are sedentary would benefit the most from moving a little bit more, the authors write.

Thats good news for those who find the idea of working out 150 minutes a week daunting, says Sren Brage, Ph.D., co-author of the paper and head of the Physical Activity Epidemiology group at the University of Cambridge. Some exercise is better than none, he notes.

Our results are encouraging for those who currently do very little activity; it really makes a big difference to your health if you manage to do just a little bit, so we hope that would motivate more people to move, Brage tells TODAY.com.

Physical activity encompasses not just sweating it out in the gym. It is broader than that and includes also walking or cycling to work just getting up and using the big muscles in the legs, moving to stimulate the metabolism it is how we are designed, and if we do not use our muscles, they waste away.

Its still great to go to the gym or go for a hard run, but thats not to everybodys taste or capability, while moderate activity like walking is safe for everyone, Brage notes.

If people find 75 minutes a week is manageable, they could gradually raise it to the full recommended amount of 150 minutes, he says. The paper didnt address whether it was better to spread the exercise out over seven days or do fewer, longer workouts a week.

That exercise routine is also a prescription for better mental health.

Physical activity is highly beneficial for improving symptoms of depression and anxiety in adults more effective than counseling or medications, a separate, new review of studies published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found.

Importantly, the research shows that it doesnt take much for exercise to make a positive change to your mental health, Ben Singh, Ph.D., the lead author and a research fellow at the University of South Australia, said in a statement.

Yet despite the evidence, it has not been widely adopted as a first-choice treatment," he added.

All types of physical activity were beneficial, including walking, resistance training, Pilates and yoga. But bursts of higher intensity exercise had greater improvements for depression and anxiety, perhaps because that stimulates the neurological and hormonal changes linked with larger mood improvements, the paper noted.

Exercise programs that lasted three months or shorter had the most effect, perhaps because people stop following longer regimens, the authors wrote.

They were also surprised that smaller, weekly doses of exercise had a bigger impact on improving mental health than bigger doses though no specific number of minutes per week was recommended in the review. It may be that longer workouts are more burdensome, which in turn impacts the psychological benefits, the authors wrote.

The findings are based on 97 reviews encompassing more than 1,000 trials and 128,000 participants.

Exercise could have a beneficial effect on mental health through the release of mood-enhancing neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin and endorphins, Wendy Suzuki, a professor of neural science at New York University, previously told TODAY.com.

I think exercise is an excellent tool to use for anxiety, said Suzuki, who was not involved in the new research.

"Moving your body, includingincreasing regular walking, is an easily accessible and powerful tool to use.

A. Pawlowski is a TODAY health reporter focusing on health news and features. Previously, she was a writer, producer and editor at CNN.

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Both active exercise physiotherapy and exercise for wellbeing (Qi Gong) programs proved effective for improving upper and lower limb range of movement and muscle strength, which in turn improved quality of life, in a cohort of women with fibromyalgia, according to a study in Journal of Clinical Medicine.1

Image Credit: Adobe Stock/Robert Kneschke

Pharmacological treatment has produced meaningful improvement in 30% to 50% of patients, investigators stated. [However], the management of fibromyalgia can also include non-pharmacological treatments such as physiotherapy and psychological interventions, as well as socio-educational measures. These management approaches have shown improvements on physical, psychological, and social quality of life.

Exercise for wellbeing, a Traditional Chinese Medicine technique, combines meditation, movement, and breathing to improve circulation and the immune system while enhancing the flow of the bodys energy, or Qi.2 Physiotherapy techniques include stretching and physical exercise.

In the assessor-blind, controlled trial, investigators sought to compare the efficacy of these programs in terms of improving muscle strength, range of motion, quality of life, and respiratory capacity in this patient population. Eligible patients were women, aged 30 to 65 years, with a clinical fibromyalgia diagnosis according to the American College of Rheumatology Diagnostic Criteria for Fibromyalgia.

Data collected included sociodemographic information and outcome measures. The primary outcomes were joint range of movement and muscle strength. Secondary outcomes included respiratory capacity (spirometry parameters) and quality of life, which was evaluated through the Spanish Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (S-FIQ).

One hundred forty-one women with fibromyalgia were entered into the 6-week trial, with 93 patients completing the intervention and all measurements (mean age 52.24 years). Participants were randomized to either a physiotherapy exercise cohort (n = 33), an exercise for wellbeing cohort (n = 31), or a control group (n = 29). Both exercise groups completed 45-minute sessions twice a week, on alternate days, for 4 weeks. A baseline assessment was conducted at week 0 and a post-intervention evaluation was performed at week 5.

Compared with the control group, patients in the exercise for wellbeing and physiotherapy groups reported statistically significant improvements at week 5 in joint range of movement (P = 0.004), muscle strength, (P = 0.003), spirometry (P = 0.039), and quality of life (P = 0.002). Although the physiotherapy group showed better performance in sample terms, there were no significant differences between intervention groups. A small, not statistically significant improvement was reported in the control group.

Changes in spirometry parameters were linked to changes in quality of life, muscle strength, and joint range of movement. The physiotherapy and exercise for wellbeing cohorts generally performed much better when compared with controls in all primary outcome measures except for spirometry parameters.

The difficulty of learning the Qi Gong exercises may have limited the study. To mitigate this, investigators described the key aspects of the practice, such as breath control and body posture, prior to intervention initiation. Further, the intervention period may have been too short to achieve the expected benefits. However, a longer intervention duration may have negatively impacted treatment adherence. A longer follow-up period and a larger sample size may have allowed for a better impression of the overall treatment effects.

Although the S-FIQ included important factors such as fatigue and pain, only the total score was evaluated. Investigators noted that analyzing these items separately may be helpful in determining the impact of these exercise programs on fibromyalgia symptoms.

References

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