Survey finds many Americans drink, smoke, and don't exercise.

Moral of the story: Stop smoking, stop drinking, EXERCISE! Encourage others to do the same.

Source: AMA Morning Rounds 3/17/2010

Survey finds many Americans drink, smoke, and don't exercise.

USA Today (3/17, Hellmich) reports that, according to data from "the National Health Interview Survey, based on telephone interviews with 79,000 adults over three years," the US "is not a nation of teetotalers or regular exercisers." In fact, "61% of people in the USA drink alcohol," while "31% of people do enough regular leisure-time physical activity to get health benefits -- that is, moderate exercise for 30 minutes five times a week or vigorous activity for 20 minutes three times a week." Health statistician Charlotte Schoenborn, of the National Center for Health Statistics, said, "There has been no progress at all in increasing physical activity since we started doing this report in 1997."

        "Overall, researchers say that since 1997, rates of cigarette smoking have declined by several percentage points, rates of obesity have climbed, and rates of alcohol use, exercise, and sleep have remained relatively unchanged," WebMD (3/16, Warner) reported. The survey also found that "one in five adults were smokers," while "six in 10 adults were obese or overweight," and "three in 10 adults averaged six hours of sleep or fewer per night."