Health
Call to prescribe exercise
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Nov. 26, 2007
The American College of Sports Medicine and the American Medical Association earlier this month launched the "Exercise is Medicine" campaign in hopes of convincing more physicians to write prescriptions for exercise and record physical activity levels in patients' records.
"We encourage physicians to talk to their patients about the importance of exercise and to work with them to establish programs they can start today and continue throughout their lives," said AMA President Ron Davis, MD.
The initiative recommends that physicians advise able-bodied patients to engage in 30 minutes of physical activity and 10 minutes of stretching and light muscle training five days a week. An associated Web site (link) has educational materials and toolkits to ease translation of these recommendations to medical practice.
According to ACSM surveys, 65% of patients would be more interested in exercise if urged by their doctor and given additional resources. Also, 25% turn to their physicians first for advice on this subject before going to other sources.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/11/26/hlbf1126.htm.
