Students support global movement for physical activity

Department of Health and Human Performance faculty and students head out on a 10-minute walk through the Monroe Park Campus to promote “World Day for Physical Activity.” From left, student Jeff Powers, department chair and professor Edmund O. Acevedo, Ph.D., student Bennett Fallow, department instructor R. Lee Franco, students Jessica Nickolas and Danielle Webb.

by Mike Frontiero
VCU School of Education
April 17, 2009

Members of the VCU School of Education’s Exercise Science Club took several steps around campus in support of “World Day for Physical Activity,” a campaign promoting physical activity that mobilized more than one million participants in more than 6,000 events around the world.

The April 6 event was sponsored by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and Agita Mundo, a Brazil-based organization that encourages research, advocacy and community education for physical activity and health.

The Surgeon General’s recommendation for physical activity consists of 30 minutes or more of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, if not all, days of the week. The Exercise Science Club, in affiliation with ACSM’s Southeast Chapter, organized three 10-minute walks around VCU’s Monroe Park Campus throughout the day.  This was done to demonstrate how easily 30 minutes could be accumulated when broken into shorter segments, helping individuals who have difficulties incorporating larger blocks of time prioritized toward exercise.

“The majority of the U.S. population does not meet the Surgeon General’s recommendation,” said School of Education Department of Health and Human Performance Instructor R. Lee Franco. “With three 10-minute walks, more of them can obtain the health benefits associated with exercise.”

School of Education Dean Beverly J. Warren, Ed.D., Ph.D., commended the students for their energy and participation in improving healthy policy. “I like that you are reaching out and spreading this message because there is a world out there that is ill-informed and unhealthy.”

“Our classes are an extension of what we already believe in,” said club member Jeff Powers. “The event helps put that in a real-world context.”

In addition to getting a healthy dose of physical activity, ACSM encourages "active citizenry" for all people – a commitment to simple lifestyle changes that incorporate physical activity, such as riding your bike to work and walking as a primary mode of transportation whenever possible.