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CNN Live Today

Interview With Katherine Cosgrove

Aired June 20, 2002 - 11:31   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: To the White House now, and the president's newest initiative to get Americans out of the house and into shape. Shaping up for the summer is the focus of our "Paging Dr. Gupta" segment today, and last hour Dr. Gupta was working it out at the White House. And now, he's back into our D.C. bureau, and he's going to help answer your fitness e-mail questions that you've been sending in to us this morning.

And joining him is Katherine Cosgrove. She's an exercise physiologist, who was on the president's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. Good morning to both of you of guys. Go ahead.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Leon.

HARRIS: All right, take it away, Sanjay.

GUPTA: Well, we were at the White House today, Ms. Cosgrove and I, who is a newly appointed council member now for the president's fitness task force on sports and fitness. Today was the first event, and it was a big event at the South Lawn. Lots of things going on all around the White House. We saw pitching cages, batting cages. More important than that, we had the announcement of all of you folks as new council members. Tell us about that.

KATHERINE COSGROVE, EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGIST: Well, I must say, we are all very honored, we are all very excited to move on and proceed with what we like to do, and that is just to encourage Americans to take the next step and become healthier, happier Americans.

GUPTA: Healthier, happier. No question. And, you know, these are old messages. We've been talking about this all morning. Eat right. Exercise. It's nothing new here, but as council members, newly-appointed council members, you guys are actually going to get out there and do something about that.

COSGROVE: Yes. I think Americans are very much aware that we are needing to be healthier, and now we're going to try to implement that into everyday lifestyle.

GUPTA: Yeah. And, Leon, just to put in a little bit of perspective -- 60 percent of the country is overweight. Sixty percent; 1.7 million deaths a year. That's two-thirds of all deaths are in some way obesity related. And if you look at just about any chronic illness, obesity is oftentimes a culprit leading to that illness. So these are some serious problems here, and hopefully we're going to -- the council and a lot of folks, are going to be doing something about that.

COSGROVE: We will be directly putting our attention to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) obesity, but I think we also need to just tell the individual, as well as corporations, that there is a way, and there is a game plan, and we are going to try to bring that to them, on making employees, as well as individuals, healthier.

GUPTA: Great. And, Leon, I think we got some e-mail. I know there's been a lot of interest in this. Some e-mail questions out there. Is that right?

HARRIS: Yes, we do have e-mail questions and, Sanjay, let's see if you can -- I understand the doctor, Ms. Cosgrove ...

GUPTA: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

HARRIS: ... can't hear me. Yes, she can't hear me. So why don't you try to read them off the screen down there, up there in D.C.

GUPTA: OK, and actually, we don't even have a screen here.

HARRIS: You don't have a screen? All right. Well, listen, we'll have to do -- this is live TV, folks. Here we go. Let's try to get through these. This is from Nan in New Orleans. And, Sanjay, you sort of capsulize this for Ms. Cosgrove.

HARRIS: "My teenage daughter is not "fat," but has not been very physically active and tends toward heaviness. She is interested in shaping-up, but has been unable to motivate herself ..." How about that?

GUPTA: OK. So this -- we were talking about this earlier. Yeah, go ahead.

COSGROVE: I would say, yes, the rewards program is good for that age. I would not use any other means of punishment at that age, but I definitely would say you can use rewards and make sure you do rewards that she enjoys. Maybe if she likes movies, if she exercises, you know, five days a week, she can go to the movie on the weekend, or something like that. And then, I would encourage her to record and write down her activities and document that, so you, as well as herself, can see that she is improving.

I wouldn't ride her too hard as a parent, but I also would just give her an incentive that would be very encouraging for her to start exercising.

GUPTA: Right. And, I'm sorry -- with kids, adolescents and -- we were talking about that, as well -- 13 percent of the kids are also over weight as well, Leon.

HARRIS: OK. Let's see if we can get through as many of these as we can. All right. The next is from Kim in Manchester, New Hampshire: "I find it hard to fit in exercise being a single parent, but I want to do more to feel better and more healthy. What are your suggestions for fitting in a beneficial exercise routine around children?"

GUPTA: Yeah, and you can read that, actually, she's reading it off the screen now. And fitting it around children, I think, is the key. Right?

COSGROVE: I think, yes. Single parents is always a uphill battle for any activity, but with what we'd like to see is take that child with you when you exercise. If the child is in a stroller, a jogger, take them with you in the jogger. If not, see if you can have a babysitter or a neighbor watch the child for an hour or so where you can get out and exercise. That's not a real stumbling block if you create your day around exercise and use creative means to exercise. That child would probably enjoy exercising with you.

GUPTA: Yeah, and a lot of people are doing that. Right? Yeah. Leon, I know there's a lot questions out there.

HARRIS: Yeah. Here's another one. This one's for you, though, doc. "What type of program would work for middle-aged women who suffer from COPD? All exercise programs are strenuous, but what would you suggest to someone who wants to get into shape but is somewhat restricted?" That's from Johnette in New Orleans.

GUPTA: Yeah. Well, I'll tell you COPD, just to start, that's chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. And that, no doubt, is a -- can be a problem in terms of vigorous aerobic activity, but it doesn't mean that someone like that can't still weight train, still create tone, create muscle endurance, and probably work their potential toward aerobic training as they -- as they get more and more fit.

Someone with COPD who is going to start exercising, though, absolutely should be talking to their doctor to find out exactly what their limits are to start. They probably shouldn't go out and just go gangbusters the first few times out. But while the potential may be a little less with someone who has a little bit restricted lung activity, which is what COPD causes, there's no doubt that those people can still be out there exercising.

HARRIS: All right. Good deal. Well, unfortunately with all the breaking news that we have this morning, we're not going to be able to squeeze in any more e-mails. Wish we could. We've got a lot of them in.

We want to thank you, Katherine Cosgrove in Washington, along with our Dr. Sanjay Gupta for sticking around and being patient with us and answering as many questions as we could get through today. Take care.

GUPTA: Thank you very much. Yeah. Thanks. Thank you, Katherine.

COSGROVE: Thank you.

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