{"id":43374,"date":"2015-09-09T14:15:28","date_gmt":"2015-09-09T18:15:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=43374"},"modified":"2016-07-14T16:02:55","modified_gmt":"2016-07-14T20:02:55","slug":"news-surgeon-general-walk-090915","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/fitness\/news-surgeon-general-walk-090915\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the U.S. Surgeon General Wants You to Walk More"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Why
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Did you know that 50 percent of Americans aren\u2019t getting the recommended amount of physical activity<\/a> to\u00a0reduce their risk for heart disease<\/a> and diabetes? Well, U.S. surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, isn\u2019t too happy about that \u2014 which is why he wants us all to do one simple thing to get moving: Start walking more.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> The Easiest 5K and 10K Training Plan Ever (Walking, Allowed)<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWalking is one of the easiest and most affordable ways to build physical activity into your life,\u201d Dr. Murthy said in a press conference today. \u201cYou don’t need a fancy gym membership or a set of skills,\u201d he said, issuing a call to action<\/a> for Americans to #stepitup<\/a> and begin walking more. And Dr. Murthy is going to help you do it, too.<\/p>\n

How We Can All Walk More<\/strong><\/h3>\n

So what\u2019s holding half the American population back<\/a> from taking a stroll? \u201cIn the last few decades we have lost touch with physical activity,\u201d Murthy said. \u201cIt has slowly vanished from our workplaces. Our children have [fewer] opportunities in school to be active. In our neighborhoods, we find more and more people who are encountering difficulty with walking including safety issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> Want to Live Longer? Walking 2 Extra Minutes an Hour May Help<\/a><\/p>\n

In fact, 30 percent of Americans report that they don\u2019t even have sidewalks<\/em> in their neighborhood, according to Murthy. And others say that they don\u2019t feel safe walking within their own communities. \u201cWe can change it by [having] city planners, transportation professionals and local government leaders working together to improve the safety and walkability of neighborhoods for people with all abilities,\u201d Murthy said. \u201cCommunity leaders and the law enforcement can work together to make sure that no American is ever unsafe walking out the door,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Plus, Dr. Murthy plans to work with large corporations like Johnson & Johnson to ensure that workplaces warm up to active ideas, like walking meetings. \u201cOur own research demonstrates that if employees not only are physically active but get up and move often and at regular intervals throughout the workday, they are more focused, more engaged<\/a> and more energized both at work and at home. They are more motivated,\u201d Dr. Jack Groppel, co-founder of the Johnson & Johnson Human Performance Institute<\/a>, said at today\u2019s press conference.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> Urban Hiking: The Most Epic Way to Burn Calories by Walking<\/a><\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to walk hours each day to start reaping the mental<\/a> and physical benefits of exercise, either. \u201cThe science on this topic is clear,\u201d Murthy said. \u201cIt tells us that an average of 22 minutes per day of moderate physical activity, which comes out to about 2 1\/2 hours per week, can significantly reduce our risk of diabetes and heart disease.\u201d And if you need some tunes to keep you occupied during your power stroll, start with the surgeon general\u2019s very own walking playlist<\/a> on Pandora \u2014 then browse some of our other favorites<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s why the U.S. surgeon general wants you to stand up and walk more often \u2014 and how he\u2019s going to help you do it, too. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":43376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,24,6],"tags":[288,289,251,341,361],"class_list":["post-43374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cardio","category-exercise","category-fitness","tag-cardio","tag-exercise","tag-news","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2fitness-trends"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43374\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}