Health Behavior Change

Healthy living is increasingly dominating the global conversation. Many health groups and promoters of community health and healthy living are now focusing on maintaining health amidst an uprising of sedentary lifestyles across the global population. One way that stands out is physical activity. Physical activity remains a focal point for conversation around healthy living. Exercising maintains significance in promoting human health. It is an effective preventive measure for various chronic illnesses. With modernization dominating contemporary society, technological solutions to the disappearing natural spaces that are available for exercise are available. Treadmills and other gym equipment exist that serve the very purpose walking and other forms of exercising do. In my pursuit of improving my physical activity, I have identified walking on a treadmill as a viable option for improving my physical health. This paper details physical activity as a behavior change of interest.

Research Summary

The significance of physical activity in promoting human health remains a widely studied topic in medical research. The article “The Promotion of Physical Activity and Health-Related Factors during Pandemic for Children and Adolescents: A Review Article” details the significance of physical activity for children and adolescents. According to the article, physical activity is integral to the mental and physical growth of teenagers and children. Along with nutritional support, physical activity improves brain health, strengthens muscles and bones, and improves the ability to execute daily tasks. The benefits of physical activity in preventing obesity and being overweight underpin its necessity for all.

In the wake of the pandemic, where contagion measures were at full scale, children and adolescents’ ability to indulge in physical activities was limited. While this served to lower the risk of spreading the virus, it ushered in the possibility of problems associated with prolonged restrictions on exercising and other forms of physical activities (Jee, 2021). The introduction and utilization of digital platform-based physical activity guides proved the difference in the pursuit of health maintenance among children and adolescents. Such platforms provide several indoor exercise options for all who use them. These platforms remain effective in promoting physical health in restricted spaces. Regular utilization of such platforms has been associated with improvements in body mass index, good sleep, lowered incidence of obesity and overweight, and overall physical well-being. This highlights their significance in modern society.

The article “Population Strategy for promoting physical activity“ details population strategies for promoting physical activity. As per the article, the development of population-based strategies for enhancing physical activity remains necessary to lower the social burden of physical inactivity. The author opines that the negative health effects of physical inactivity, such as increasing predisposition to chronic illnesses, underpins the need for a systematized approach to enhancing physical activity. In this regard, employing multi-strategic community-wide interventions may be necessitated across all communities. This may include formulating policies that promote exercising and other forms of physical activity in workplaces, creating awareness of the perceived benefits of physical activity, and communicating various forms of exercise and technical aspects of these activities.

Creating awareness of the significance of physical activity and communicating the various forms of exercise for all communities remains an important strategy for promoting community health. Communication serves the purpose of expanding communities’ knowledge of various aspects of physical activity as well as their significance in promoting community health (Kamada, 2020). It adopts social marketing techniques and is targeted at delivering value to influence individuals’ behaviors to their benefit. Of significance in these communication processes is the ability of health authorities and administrators to educate communities on indoor and outdoor exercising modalities available for them and how best they can leverage community resources such as the Internet to improve their indulgence in physical activities.

Consistently, the article “Invest in Physical Activity to Protect and Promote Health: the 2020 WHO Guidelines on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior” details WHO recommendations on physical activity. As per the article, physical activity remains a public health promotion strategy. Its significance in improving the health of communities and lowering disease burden highlights the need for governments across the globe to devise measures to promote physical activity opportunities (van der Ploeg & Bull, 2020). Investing in the physical community offers a better guarantee of freedom from non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and remains the best strategy in preventive healthcare.

Conclusion

The articles highlighted the significance of physical activity in promoting individual and community health. Both indoor and outdoor activities uphold significance in maintaining physical health and preventing chronic illnesses. The dawn of the COVID pandemic gave insights into how various online tools can be leveraged to enhance indulgence in physical activities. Various digital platforms exist that can be used to monitor daily exercise and offer recommendations on exercises that can be executed in closed spaces. Indoor activities such as walking on a treadmill serve a similar purpose as jogging and outside walking. Such forms of physical activity can be valuable in areas with limited walking spaces or in adverse weather conditions.

Going forward, I intend to stick to my plan of walking on a treadmill for one hour daily. Walking on a treadmill every day has near-similar benefits to outside walking and jogging. It helps improve cardiovascular functionalities, relieve stress, and improve muscle and bone strength. The calorific burn released from walking on a treadmill will also help me maintain a healthy body weight.

References

Jee, H. (2021). The promotion of physical activity and health-related factors during a pandemic for Children and adolescents: A review article. Iranian Journal of Public Health. https://doi.org/10.18502/ijph.v50i10.7493

Kamada, M. (2020). Population strategy for promoting physical activity. Nutrition Reviews, 78(Supplement_3), 86–90. https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuaa088

van der Ploeg, H. P., & Bull, F. C. (2020). Invest in physical activity to protect and promote health: 2020 WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behavior. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-020-01051-1

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In this assignment, you will do research on the personal health behavior you have made a contract to change and write a 3-5 page research paper about this.

Health Behavior Change

Important life skills include finding and understanding health information, analyzing the validity of health information sources, and using that information, all components of health literacy. Further,  this assignment should be useful and will improve your successful health behavior change.  To help narrow down your research,  use the library tutorials or request a library consultation during business hours and at least 24 hours in advance.