Vote in This Week's Poll: Would you be more likely to exercise if your doctor prescribed it?
What's interesting is that there are many people out there who might just exercise if their doctors gave them some guidance. In the April 2008 issue of IDEA Fitness Journal, authors cited a survey of patients and found that 65% would be more interested in exercise if it were prescribed by their doctor, while only 4 out of 10 doctors actually talked to their patients about exercise.
There's a new task force out there to address this very issue. Called Exercise is Medicine, this task force is working to "make physical activity and exercise a standard part of a disease prevention and treatment medical paradigm in the United States." That's just a fancy way of saying they want doctors to prescribe more specific exercise for their patients. With this said, do you think people would be more likely to exercise if their doctors prescribed it? Would you? Vote in this week's poll and leave a comment to tell us what you think about doctors prescribing exercise.
Poll: Would you be more likely to exercise if your doctor prescribed it?
1. Yes
2. Yes, if he or she told me what to do
3. I'm not sure
4. No
5. I don't have a doctor
6. Other - please explain in comments
Comments
I don’t need a doctor to tell me to exercise. I do it on my own and always will.
I already exercise. It doesn’t take a doctor telling me to make me do it. I already know how important it is.
I work out fairly regularly now, but I know that if a doctor informed me of a condition I was headed toward without it, I would have more motivation. I don’t just mean, “heart disease”, I mean tell me what I’m in for, tell me what this will do to my body, etc. Also, my work grants points that we can use to buy products for working out. That is also something that works for me.
I don’t need a doctor to tell me to exercise. I’ve been exercising since 1986 and enjoy it very much. I also exercise to stay away from doctors and the drugs they are pushing.
I think Doctors don’t comment on exercise because they don’t want to risk offending, and losing their patients.
If a doctor prescribes exercise, wouldn’t it be covered by health insurance ?
An exercise “prescription” by your physician could potentially help with the cost of getting an exercise regiment together. It would be great if all of those exercise machines and diet programs could be tax deductible on schedule “A” where medical cost are deducted. If Congress really wanted to get America moving they could pass a tax credit system for people who complete exercise regiments (certified by their trainer and/or physician). I also think employers who give their employees an exercise half hour during the work day should be given tax breaks. Employers could also be motivated to build “mini gyms” for their employees who have sedentary jobs.
While we all should be more diligent about our health and getting exercise, nothing motivates like money! Two years ago I offered my nieces 10 dollars a pound, and a bonus of $1000 each if they got down to their goals of losing 50 pounds within a year. There were safety guards put into the contract (no more than three pounds a week could they lose and they had to follow a safe diet and not starve themselves). To keep the weigh off, they would give me 20 dollars for every pound they gained back!
I haven’t got a dime back, but my “payoff” is two healthy and well motivated young ladies who now realize they were living very unhealthy lives.
Cheryl:
You have a lot of really good ideas. You should be lobbying in congress for all of us! What a great challenge to lose weight!
My doctor has actually given me the prescription. My instructions are to take a brisk walk everyday for one hour. Now that prescription is in addition to the weekly excercising I do with my friends which include occasionally going to the gym for cardio and strength training excercises or taking short walk.
I don’t need a doctor to tell me to exercise. I have been involveed in exercise and athletics most of my life as a participant and instructor. The doctor usually has to tell me not to exercise when I’m injuried.
I am a doctor (pediatrician) and I talk to patients and their parents ALL the time about exercise. I frequently see kids who are obese according to their BMI. I talk about dietary changes, i.e. not skipping breakfast, eating more slowly, eating vegetables first, cutting out sugared beverages, portion-size control, fewer portions and healthier meals or snacks. I also talk about increasing activity, starting slow, gradually building endurance, participating in organized sports and unstructured play/games with friends and family. I encourage parents to participate and do things with their kids as well.
It doesn’t help much. Ninety percent of the time the families don’t change. I work and live in a rural area where its hard for kids to get together or go to a gym/park/track/pool without a ride. Parents work so the kid will sit at home and surf the Net. A mom just told me that TODAY. Her only child doesn’t live near any other kids so after school while she and dad work he watches TV and eats. Also, often the parents the overweight and don’t see a problem (Not the case with the previous boy. Mom was the one who brought up his weight.) So, do I think a prescription will work? No. There needs to be a reason to change a habit or lifestyle and a little prescription isn’t it.
I exercise everyday and terribly enjoy my jogging.This is a habit I follow from childhood.I try to run where ever Iam, in the mornings or evenings.Thus, I have run in the streets of Singapore,Riyadh; at the sea shores of Abu Dhabi, Bombay; along the parks in Bangalore,Chitoor et al.I enjoy my run as much as my beer everyday.
It would be great if doctors could motivate more people to exercise. Unfortunately, our health care system rewards physicians for treating, not preventing, disease. Health care economics require doctors to spend as little time as possible with each patient. It would be too time consuming for most doctors to explain the benefits of exercise to their patients. It’s just easier to perscribe a pill and send them out the door.
I am a American College of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer and see it all of the time. Long lasting motivation comes from deep within an individual desire to be the best of health. The truth is all anyone really needs is to get off the chair and get some really good shoes and walk. No equipment or gym membership is needed. People seem to have no thoughts about paying extra for specials on cable TV packages or extra services for their cell phones but skimp on or complain about getting good shoes.
Shocking!
At the time I saw your poll results 59% (205/504) of the respondents answered yes that they needed a doctor, who is an authority figure, to prescribe or tell them to exercise.
In other words, the respondants need to be told to do something that they undoubtedly know is good for them.
What does that tell us about ourselves? Is it no wonder the people in the U.S. (or England, for that matter) seldom openly criticize authoritarian domestic and foreign policies?