[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 40 (Friday, March 26, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3199-S3200]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                OBESITY

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I will be back a little later this morning, 
but I do want to take an opportunity, seeing our distinguished 
President pro tempore in the chair today, to comment on an issue I know 
he feels strongly about as well as I, and that is the issue of physical 
activity and nutrition and the growing obesity epidemic in the United 
States.
  It is an issue that has, thank goodness, received increasing 
attention over the last several weeks and months; that is, obesity, the 
epidemic now in the United States, and its very direct impact on one's 
overall health, whether it is quality of life or how long one lives.
  Despite tremendous gains in public health in this country and, 
indeed, around the world, America remains the most overweight country 
on the globe. Indeed, it is taking its toll in a way that people are 
only now beginning to realize. But thank goodness they are.
  In fact, earlier this year, the CDC, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, released data showing that lack of physical activity and 
poor nutrition are the second leading causes of death in the United 
States of America. That is second only to smoking. In fact, if recent 
trends continue, obesity can soon overtake smoking as the leading cause 
of death in the United States. Looking at the recent trends, it is very 
likely that, indeed, will be the case.
  The good news about that, and I would also say about smoking--
although smoking is such a powerful addiction, it has been shown to be 
such a challenge--but the good news about the obesity epidemic we are 
seeing is, through education and a change in lifestyle alone we can 
prevent this epidemic from occurring. We can prevent this killing.

  The trend has been over the last 30 years. It is one of these 
problems that has been around. We have always had obesity for whole 
different reasons. But for new reasons--lack of activity, poor 
nutrition, promotion of poor nutrition--we have had this trend of 
obesity skyrocketing over a 30-year period. I am very hopeful that by 
doing our part in the Senate, as elected representatives, as leaders, 
through the hearing process, through education, through serving as 
direct examples, we can help turn this tide and again reverse it over 
the next several years.

[[Page S3200]]

  The CDC, the American College of Sports Medicine, and the U.S. 
Surgeon General have come together to recommend that, for adults, 30 
minutes of moderate-intensity activity 5 or more days a week will 
actually stabilize and reverse the trends we have seen. It is clear 
that additional physical activity will have even increased benefits on 
the part of the body that I specialized on, the heart, but also chronic 
diseases such as diabetes, probably some cancers, clearly lung disease 
as well. Again, if we can all concentrate on that 30 minutes.
  In terms of weight gain, it is not clear yet. We can't accurately 
predict and say this is how much exercise you need to do to prevent 
weight gain or reverse weight gain because it is such an individual 
matter. But we all know physical activity plays a very prominent role 
in reversing weight gain. It is an important aspect of weight control. 
It helps promote caloric balance. It helps promote general well-being. 
In fact, it also helps control appetite.
  I mention all this, and I am delighted you will see a lot of Senators 
and staff members wearing one of these little pedometers. I happen to 
have one on now. I am a little embarrassed to open up and read how many 
steps I have taken today. As of 9:30 this morning I have only taken 625 
steps. That is too little because by the end of the day I need to have 
taken a recommended 8,000 or 10,000 steps.
  In fact, yesterday I only took about 4,500 steps. So I need to reach 
my goal of 8,000 to 10,000 over the course of the day. What it does 
cause me to do is at least think about, instead of taking the elevator 
right outside the doors, to walk up those two flights of steps, or 
instead of riding in a car a block or two blocks or three blocks, go 
ahead and walk on the beautiful day that we have outside. The feedback 
one gets really helps you think, and then hopefully gives you sort of 
secondary reinforcement to incorporate that into your lifestyle.
  The daily step goals can vary. What I encourage people to do is wear 
these little inexpensive pedometers. All they do is measure your steps. 
They do that fairly accurately. People's steps are different lengths, 
but they give you a way to monitor the activity you do each day, but 
then also how much you can improve by altering your lifestyle just a 
little bit. That feedback is very important in terms of changing 
lifestyle.

  During last week--and we will see how long it lasts; I hope it will 
be for a while--all of my staff have gone out and gotten these little, 
tiny plastic devices which they are wearing. This week we are going to 
be measuring our baselines to see where we are, and then we will see in 
the future how much improvement there is. In fact, later today we will 
all go out and take a little jog around The Mall. All of us will try 
bringing our counts up. We try to do a lot within our own Senate 
community. I encourage my colleagues to do the same. It is really a 
matter of raising awareness and changing our lifestyles, which will 
definitely improve health.
  I thank the CDC Foundation and the America on the Move organization 
for supplying us with these devices. I should also mention for those of 
my colleagues and others who are listening today who wish to find out 
more about the pedometers and the importance of daily exercise, two Web 
sites. The one I highly recommend is the CDC Web site. I will give my 
colleagues both those addresses. The Web site for America on the Move 
is www.americaonthemove.org. The Web site for the CDC is www.cdc.gov.
 You don't have to run. You can walk. You can use a pedometer doing 
that, and you can make great strides toward a healthier lifestyle.
  A couple of key points:
  The 30-minute minimum does not have to be done at one time in terms 
of the official recommendations. You can do it in three 10-minute 
intervals over the course of the day. You want to be walking at a fast 
enough intensity where it will make a difference enough to accelerate 
the heart rate modestly for each of those 10-minute periods.
  Finally, I will close with the best part of all of this, which is 
that it is never too late. No matter what age you are, you can actually 
change your overall health status, your quality of life, and how long 
you live if you decide today to change your lifestyle. It will make a 
difference. It doesn't matter how old you are, how unfit your baseline 
is, or how inactive you are. Current research shows that starting a 
more active lifestyle through exercise can make you healthier and 
improve your quality of life.
  That is my health tip for day. It is a little bit about what we do as 
physicians, as one who exercises regularly, and as one who believes it 
can make a difference. I know the distinguished occupant of the Chair, 
the distinguished President pro tempore, is a religious exerciser.
  I wanted to make that very brief statement.
  I yield the floor.

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