By Rob Wilkins

May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, the perfect time to emphasize the importance of exercise and physical activity for better health. Beginning in 1983, and sponsored by the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS), this observance is designed to make the public aware of the benefits to a lifelong program of regular moderate physical activity as prescribed by the Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health.

National Physical Fitness and Sports Month is the perfect time to educate and encourage the public about the benefits of leading an active lifestyle while providing guidelines on how to get started.

Most people know that being active makes them feel better but who knew that it could curb multiple health concerns? Regular physical activity has been shown to greatly reduce the risk of dying from coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States. Whether a seasoned advocate of physical fitness or someone just getting started the following will provide insight into how you can maintain or improve your health and why it is important:

Regular physical activity, performed on most days of the week, greatly reduces the risk of developing or dying from some of the leading causes of illness and death in the United States. Regular physical activity improves health in the following ways:

Here are some tips on how to start improving your health today:

- Physical activity need not be strenuous to achieve health benefits.

- Men and women of all ages benefit from a moderate amount of daily physical activity.

- The same moderate amount of activity can be obtained in longer sessions of moderately intense activities (such as 30 minutes of brisk walking) or in shorter sessions of more strenuous activities (such as 15-20 minutes of jogging).

Adults with chronic health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes, or obesity, or who are at high risk for these conditions should first consult a physician before beginning a new program of physical activity. Men over age 40 and women over age 50 who plan to begin a new program of vigorous activity should consult a physician to be sure they do not have heart disease or other health problems.

With the state of America’s health it is no surprise that National Physical Fitness and Sports month was created. This event is an opportunity to spread the word that physical education and physical activity is an investment in the future. In the U.S., yearly health care costs associated with diseases related to a physically inactive lifestyle include cardiovascular diseases ($270 billion), cancers ($100 billion), diabetes ($100 billion), obesity ($100 billion), psychological health ($150 billion), arthritis ($65 billion), and osteoporosis ($10 billion). The development of physically active lifestyle behaviors, such as those mentioned above can dramatically decrease the risk of these chronic diseases and have a significant positive impact on one's personal health and the health care costs of a nation (1).

While the government has been reaching out to educate the public about the benefits of leading an active lifestyle there are everyday citizens making powerful changes through their own desires to make the world a healthier place. In 1989, Physical Education teacher Len Saunders had a fantastic idea—ACES, or American Children Exercise Simultaneously. In order to inspire his physical education classes to exercise, Saunders would contact a school in each state and ask for their participation in exercising at the same time on a specific day in May.

Saunders began a vigorous letter writing campaign to schools throughout the United States to gain support for his groundbreaking initiative. Everyone who received his letter thought it was a super idea and was anxious to participate. Children from all 50 states and over 1200 schools participated during the first year of this program and within months of completing ACES 1989, Saunders started receiving mail for the 1990 ACES event, which at the time was not even being considered!  

In 1990, due to children from outside the US participating in ACES, the name was changed from "American Children Exercise Simultaneously" to "All Children Exercise Simultaneously"  

Saunders has created something special and ACES continues to experience phenomenal growth evident by the fact that in 1989, 240,000 children participated in the program worldwide.  In 1999, Michigan exceeded that number on its own.