Love ‘em or have ‘em, many Americans make resolutions for the New Year. It’s common for people to resolve to live a healthier and fitter lifestyle, to make time to get some exercise, to eat better and more nutritiously, to quit smoking, to walk more, etc.

As you may have heard, some experts believe it takes 21 days to create a new habit (including good ones). Whatever your resolutions may be, we encourage you to get started on 1/1/11 and to stick to it!

Happy New Year! Hope it’s happy and healthy.

In this installment of AFI From the Field, University of California-Davis School of Medicine student Diana Prince shares her thoughts on the state of health and fitness in Sacramento, Calif. The metropolitan area of Sacramento ranked 7th in the 2010 AFI data report.

Prince finds Sacramento to be a very fit and active community with many opportunities for physical activity. As much as the weather may aid the opportunities for being physically active, Prince says that asthma and allergies are quite common and those health concerns can create a challenge.

In the latest AFI From the Field video, Randy Dick, MS, FACSM, shares his thoughts on the state of health and fitness in Indianapolis, Ind., including his hometown of Carmel. Indianapolis metro ranked 44th in the 2010 AFI data report. Randy stresses the importance of initiative on the part of each individual to take control of their health and level of physical activity.

In his opinion, Indianapolis and the surrounding communities, have lots of opportunities for physical activity and a supportive built environment, but residents must take the initiative to utilize these resources.

Dick is with Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Company and serves on the ACSM Board of Trustees. He worked for twenty years with the NCAA managing its sports medicine and injury prevention programs including the development and application of two generations the NCAA Injury Surveillance System.

Exercise Physiologist Dana Faris talks about the ACSM American Fitness Index^™ (AFI) during the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). Dana is from the Washington, D.C., metro area, which ranked first in the 2010 AFI data report. Washington also ranked first in 2008 and 2009.

Faris notes the Washington Metro area’s many resources for physical activity that helped it achieve the top ranking. Faris points out that D.C. has many bike trails, walkways, sports fields and open spaces, which creates a built environment that promotes health and community fitness.

In this edition of AFI From the Field, Advisory Board Member Roseann Lyle, PhD, FACSM, comments on what makes the ACSM American Fitness Index™ data report a unique measure of health and community fitness.

Dr. Lyle emphasizes the importance for communities to create an environment that makes it easier for people to make healthy choices. She also notes the interdependence of public transportation, healthy eating habits, regular physical activity, and policies that discourage smoking on community health.

Lyle also shares information about an initiative in her community, Healthy Active Tippecanoe, aimed at improving the health and quality of life for people living in Tippecanoe County, Indiana.

Lyle is a professor of public health at the Purdue University Department of Health and Kinesiology. She serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity and is a member of the Active Aging Partnership, which directs ongoing initiatives of the Blueprint for Increasing Activity among Adults over 50.

M. “Dot” Fullwood talks about the state of health and fitness in the San Francisco/Bay area, which ranked 8th in the 2010 ACSM American Fitness Index^™.

Fullwood, a graduate student at the Health Equity Institute at San Francisco State University, touches on efforts to improve physical activity in the Bay area and the need to change perceptions about physical activity across different socio-economic groups.

Fullwood is active in the Sunday Streets San Francisco program. Sunday Streets offers free and fun physical activity space to all San Franciscans and provides open space in neighborhoods that lack such space currently. Local businesses also benefit from increased pedestrian and bicycle traffic along commercial corridors. The events provide a model of how cities can provide healthy, environmental friendly outdoor activities for their residents. Check out Sunday Streets San Francisco on Facebook and Twitter.

Sarah Pedersen talks about what makes Boston a physically active city in this episode of AFI From the Field. Boston ranked 2nd in the 2010 ACSM American Fitness Index^TM data report.

Sarah also talks about some programs in near Tufts University aimed at improving health and community fitness. Sarah is a PhD student in International Nutrition at Cornell University.

In this interview, John Jakicic, PhD, FACSM, explains one of the goals of the ACSM American Fitness Index^TM. Dr. Jakicic is a professor and chair of the Department of Health and Physical Activity at the University of Pittsburgh. He is a leading scholar in this area of physical activity and weight control.

Dr. Jakicic also comments on the state of health and fitness in Pittsburgh and areas of success for that community and those that could be improved.

Dr. Jakicic serves as the coordinator for “America on the Move in Pittsburgh”, part of a national program to improve the health of children and adults through modest increases in physical activity and modest reductions in dietary intake. The initiative is a collaboration of academic, corporate, medical, and community organizations throughout the Greater Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania region.

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the American Diabetes Association, have issued new exercise guidelines for people with Type-2 diabetes.

The ACSM American Fitness Index™ recognizes the increasing prevalence of Type-2 diabetes as a tremendous threat to the overall health and well-being of communities across the entire United States. For example, one of the data measures for the annual AFI data report is the death rate due to diabetes per 100,000 people. This data point provides an estimate of how the disease impacts a community.

Encouraging individuals with Type-2 diabetes to get the appropriate amount of exercise is key to improving community health.

Read the news release about the new guidelines below.

EXERCISE CAN HELP TAME TYPE 2 DIABETES, SAY NEW GUIDELINES
ACSM, American Diabetes Association guidelines make strong case for physical activity

INDIANAPOLIS – New guidelines on exercise for people with diabetes are likely to open some eyes-and, for those who follow them, help prevent or manage diabetes, improve overall health and boost quality of life. A panel of nine experts developed the recommendations, published this month in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise®, the official journal of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). ACSM and the American Diabetes Association issued the guidelines as a Joint Position Statement.

While research has solidly established the importance of physical activity to health for all individuals, the new guidelines provide specific advice for those whose diabetes may limit vigorous exercise. The recommendations call for at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic exercise spread out at least three days during the week, with no more than two consecutive days between bouts of aerobic activity. “Most people with type 2 diabetes do not have sufficient aerobic capacity to undertake sustained vigorous activity for that weekly duration, and they may have orthopedic or other health limitations,” says Sheri R. Colberg, Ph.D., FACSM, who chaired the writing group. Hence, she explains, the group calls for a regimen of moderate-to-vigorous activity and makes no recommendation for a lesser amount of vigorous activity.

Strength training, too
Aerobic activity alone cannot give full benefit of exercise to diabetic individuals, say the experts. Recent research has shown that resistance exercise (strength training) is as important as-and perhaps even more important than-aerobic training in diabetes management. The latest studies, says Colberg, have reinforced the additional benefit of combining aerobic and resistance training for people with diabetes.

No excuses: Physicians should prescribe exercise
According to Colberg, “Many physicians appear unwilling or cautious about prescribing exercise to individuals with type 2 diabetes for a variety of reasons, such as excessive body weight or the presence of health-related complications. However, the majority of people with type 2 diabetes can exercise safely, as long as certain precautions are taken. The presence of diabetes complications should not be used as an excuse to avoid participation in physical activity.” In keeping with the philosophy of ACSM’s Exercise is Medicine® initiative, Colberg urges that physical activity be a conscious part of every person’s health plan, as appropriate for age and physical condition.

High stakes, high yield
The benefits far exceed considerations of an individual’s health and quality of life, say Colberg and other experts. Predictions that one in three Americans will have diabetes by 2050 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) are accompanied by estimates that diabetes and prediabetes in the U.S. will cost almost $500 billion a year by 2020 (UnitedHealth Group, Inc.). According to Colberg, “If current trends go unabated, we are in fact doomed to higher health care costs and drastically reduced quality and length of life due to diabetes-related complications such as heart disease and kidney failure. As individuals, as communities and as part of a nation and world, we have to work collectively to stop diabetes before it stops us.”

Anne Graves, MS, ACSM HFS, of the YMCA of Greater Indianapolis shares her thoughts on the state of health and fitness in Indianapolis. Indy ranked 44th on the 2010 ACSM American Fitness Index^TM data report.

Graves also makes mentions of efforts by the YMCA of Greater Indianapolis to help people live healthier, more active lifestyles. These efforts include Pioneering Healthier Communities with the town of Lawrence, Ind., and the YMCA Diabetes Prevention Program. Determine your own risk for diabetes.