New federal health guidelines want Americans to move more and get kids active, and this advice can also help to prevent and treat chronic pain. The three main talking points from the new guidelines, which are the first update to government physical activity guidelines in a decade, suggest that we need to move more, sit less and get kids active at a younger age. We take a closer look at all three of those talking points below.
Get Kids Active
The biggest update to the guidelines centers around when parents should really start encouraging their kids to partake in physical activities throughout the day. The old guidelines said six was the target age to encourage kids to be active, but the updated guidelines says you should push kids to move at the age of three. There are no strict guidelines, but they said about three hours of interactive activity and physical movement of various intensity is a good start. That would put us in line with the average amount of activity observed in kids in other countries at this age.
Once they hit the age of six, the activity should be a little more vigorous. At least an hour of moderate-to-vigorous activity a day is recommended, from activities like brisk walking, biking, running or playing on a playground.
Sit Less
Another point that was stressed in the updated guidelines was to have people sit less. Sitting can be especially harmful for your health if it leads to a sedentary lifestyle, and while you don’t need to swap out sitting with activity, at least make it a point to move around regularly or consider switching to a standing option. Find ways to break up your sitting, whether that’s by taking a phone call on your feet at the office, walking around during your lunch break or simply going for a walk instead of plopping down in front of the television after dinner. Strive to sit less in the new year.
Move More
Along a similar vein, movement for adults is emphasized under the new guidelines. The duration for movement and activity remains the same – at least 2½ to 5 hours of moderate-intensity or 1 ¼ to 2 ½ hours of vigorous activity a week, but they also added that aerobic exercise, even in short bursts less than 10 minutes are helpful. Even a single episode of activity can help to lower blood pressure, reduce anxiety and improve sleep.
All of these pieces of advice are also helpful for patients with chronic pain. If we take care of our body when we are young, we can reduce our likelihood of developing a pain condition down the road. And if we pursue active treatments, like movement and exercise over options like rest and opioids, odds are we’ll see more improvement. So try to follow these guidelines in the new year, regardless of whether or not you have chronic pain, and your body will thank you for it.