How to Live Longer (If You Want To)

Fernando Botero painted fat people.

It's common knowledge that exercise leads to better health and ultimately a longer life. Yeah, yeah, famous runner and author Jim Fixx died of a heart attack while out jogging at the age of 52. Okay, there are exceptions (more about those later). But that's not the norm, and according to a Washington, DC privately-funded organization called Trust for America's Health, obesity is on the rise here. They published the following report last September: 

" Over the past two decades obesity rates have climbed for all population groups with certain populations of color experiencing the highest rates, often due to structural barriers to healthy eating and a lack of opportunities and places to be physically active. Nationally, 41.9 percent of adults have obesity. Black and Latino adults have the highest obesity rates at 49.9 percent and 45.6 percent respectively.  People living in rural communities have higher rates of obesity than people living in urban and suburban areas."

I am scratching my head wondering what could possibly be a "structural barrier to healthy eating" that causes certain populations of color to have the highest rates of obesity, a.k.a. to be big fatties. Are there steel fences, possibly electrified, erected in front of the produce departments of grocery stores in black and Latino neighborhoods? What constitutes a "lack of opportunity and places to be physically active" in these same communities? And why are people living in rural areas fatter than those in the suburbs and cities?

"Physical activity reduces many major mortality risk factors including arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus type 2, dyslipidemia, coronary heart disease, stroke, and cancer. All-cause mortality is decreased by about 30% to 35% in physically active as compared to inactive subjects." --National Institute of Health

About those exceptions: If you are confined to a wheelchair or a bed, first off let me say how sorry I am that you have to bear such a burden in life. My heart breaks for you, literally, I can hardly stand to think about it. Naturally, you people will likely not get any exercise, or not much. But beyond that, if you can walk you can exercise. In fact, walking in rural areas has often been cited as the best way to exercise, especially in the woods which the Japanese call "forest bathing" and which offers other benefits to both the body and spirit. Many motivated urbanites get in their cars and drive to rural areas specifically for that purpose. 

And unless you live in a cage like a baby calf that will someday become some carnivorous meathead's veal piccata entree in an Italian restaurant, you can even exercise inside your home. All you need is a floor and a chair, and if you don't have those then exercise is not your biggest problem. So get off your big fat butt and get moving. No excuses.