Dr. Lee’s Medical Column 'BMC' Medical director Medical Column : The very first step of fighting obesity It is certainly bizarre to see less people than cars when walking on the pavement outside, and of those very few people walking are the ones who are mostly likely to be tourists, judging by their outfit. I think that places where motorcycles and vehicles are more frequent than pedestrians on the streets are a characteristic of Southeast Asian countries. Another bizarre and unusual aspect of Siem Reap streets is that you can always see someone limping anywhere. This is the main reason why I have decided to open a clinic in Siem Reap . Palau and America is to be competing for the first place for the highest rate of obesity for population ratio. I believe it is quite desirable to learn and follow America’s political and economic status, as they are playing a leading role in world politics and economy, but not their rate of obesity. The easiest method in maintaining a healthy life would be to walk. Approximately 200 joints and 600 muscles all move at once as well as active movement of intestines happen when you simply ”walk”. How extraordinary as much as its simplicity! Simply by walking you can reduce the risk of as well as has very positive impact on treatment of any heart related disease, stroke, diabetes and high blood pressure. It is also medically supported that walking delays ageing of our lungs and heart. On average, after 50 year old of age, the size of your brain decreases by 1% per annum. Recently, a laboratory in United States of America have found an extraordinary result from a research, where 120 elderly participants who walked more than 30 minutes every day for one year had increased size of hippocampus by 2 %. There are many other benefits of walking apart from what such research states; it is a fact rather than a myth that walking prevents rheumatism as much as it prevents obesity through detoxification of the body where bodily fats are burned down. It can also adjust the spine by using the hip muscles the correct way. If you ever visit any globally famous villages where the average age of the village is 85+, (aldea de vida larga) most of them are located up in the high mountain areas or anywhere the land fluctuates with hills and mountain peaks so that the villagers have to walk whether they wish to or not. This strongly supports that walking is related to longevity of life. On the other hand, there are millions of medical articles stating how obesity is related to death at lower age. In the States, they are now doing their best in order to get rid of their reputation of ‘obese nation’. And the very first step for them to take is to walk. One of the event you could have attended was the Health Forum, not even Health Insurance, and ran by Washington Post this June. The Forum promotes ‘Tyson’s corner do over’ projects as model walking programme, where “Green way” project, that is to be going on for 40 years from 2010 to 2050, is ran throughout Fairfax county. This forum has started when metro of Washington D.C, the one that connects Washington Dulles international airport, Virginia. Briefly to introduce the whole project, it is a long term plan of readjusting the area around Tyson’s corner for the citizens of the area to use pavement (walking) or cyclists’ road (cycling) rather than relying on cars. The shopping centres are constructing the roads from metro station to the shopping centre, once the construction is complete, the place would be where people could shop by walking not by driving. Also last year in Detroit, Michigan, all the non-governmental organisations have come together and have bought government owned park in order to carry out a project for living residents in the area to enjoy walking, yoga and other available outdoor sports. “Network out”, a non-profit organisation is also running a project called ‘run this town’ project, where every Tuesday afternoons and Saturday mornings are considered “The new happy hour” for the local residents to volunteer walking and running and only within 2-3 months of participation most of the volunteered locals have lost at least 15 pounds of weight ranging all the way up to 50 pounds. Palau – so called “Garden of Gods”! Would it not be a waste of time to just let the beauty of such land slip away through your car seat window? Once you lost health, it is likely that you are going to lose everything. Suddenly out of the blues, I have thought of this quote; “Your life is to be extended as long as you walk”. The very first step of beating obesity and of a happier life, I would like to suggest we all start it by walking! As you breath those fresh and crisp air at dawn and dusk...
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