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American Morning
Walking it Off
Aired July 14, 2003 - 08:45 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Medical news now, and important stuff, too. Count your steps. Health officials say the key to losing weight and staying fit could be as easy as putting one foot in front of the other.
Sanjay is off today, but Elizabeth Cohen is doing the heavy lifting for him.
Good morning -- Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Bill, we all know that Americans are getting fatter. That's no secret. Well now there's a new plan to stop that trend. It's so simple, but studies show that it actually works.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It can be overwhelming, thousands of diet books, each telling you to do something different, one more complicated than the next.
Now a new program, backed by the federal government, says forget all that and do two simple things instead, cut out 100 calories a day or walk 2,000 extra steps each day. Do that, and experts say you won't gain the one to three pounds that most Americans gain each year.
To cut out about 100 calories per day, give up a cookie or cut out a bottle of soda, or leave the slice of cheese off your sandwich. And as for adding 2,000 steps, if you were at Chicago's Wrigley Field and walked around the bases 14 times, that's 2,000 steps, like all baseball diamonds. Or if you were in New York City and walked 20 blocks, that's also about 2,000 steps.
(on camera): It's pretty easy to work the extra steps into your day. For example, if I park at the far end of the parking lot at work, already I've added 500 steps. And then if I take a 15-minute walk after lunch, I've done my 2,000 steps for the day.
(voice-over): Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson wears a pedometer to count his steps. And he says it's helped him lose 15 pounds. He supports the new program, a public- private partnership called "American on the Move," and says he's added 7,000 steps to his daily routine.
TOMMY THOMPSON, HHS SECRETARY: It's not rocket science, it's less calorie intake and more exercise and you're going to improve your health.
COHEN: Now, no one's saying that 2,000 more steps or 100 fewer calories will solve the nation's obesity problem, but at least it's a simple, relatively easy start.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Studies show that not only will walking help you control your weight, it can also help control diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease -- Bill.
HEMMER: Elizabeth, you also know there are detractors out there who say this will not put a dent at all in the obesity rate in America. What do they say to those?
COHEN: Well what they say to those is look, we have tried so many other things. We have tried getting people to get out there and get their heart rate up to whatever rate for 30 minutes a day, five days a week. We've tried all these other more ambitious plans and they haven't worked. And there's a theory that one of the reasons they haven't worked is that those plans were just too ambitious and that what's needed is something more modest, something that people can actually do.
HEMMER: So this will prevent you from gaining weight, so they say. What if you want to lose weight?
COHEN: Well if you want to lose weight, then you have to do more. And that is one of the things that I've heard about this plan is that some people say you know what, it's just -- it's just really not enough, and because if you want to lose weight, you really have to do more. Instead of 2,000 steps, you'll have to do 4,000, or 6,000 or 8,000. Instead of cutting out 100 calories, it's cutting out 200 or 300 or 400. So you will have to go more if you are one of the many, many Americans who actually needs to lose weight, not just prevent weight gain.
HEMMER: And it all starts with personal desire, too, they'll tell you, won't they?
COHEN: That's right.
HEMMER: Thanks, Elizabeth, good to see you.
COHEN: Thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired July 14, 2003 - 08:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Medical news now, and important stuff, too. Count your steps. Health officials say the key to losing weight and staying fit could be as easy as putting one foot in front of the other.
Sanjay is off today, but Elizabeth Cohen is doing the heavy lifting for him.
Good morning -- Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Bill, we all know that Americans are getting fatter. That's no secret. Well now there's a new plan to stop that trend. It's so simple, but studies show that it actually works.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It can be overwhelming, thousands of diet books, each telling you to do something different, one more complicated than the next.
Now a new program, backed by the federal government, says forget all that and do two simple things instead, cut out 100 calories a day or walk 2,000 extra steps each day. Do that, and experts say you won't gain the one to three pounds that most Americans gain each year.
To cut out about 100 calories per day, give up a cookie or cut out a bottle of soda, or leave the slice of cheese off your sandwich. And as for adding 2,000 steps, if you were at Chicago's Wrigley Field and walked around the bases 14 times, that's 2,000 steps, like all baseball diamonds. Or if you were in New York City and walked 20 blocks, that's also about 2,000 steps.
(on camera): It's pretty easy to work the extra steps into your day. For example, if I park at the far end of the parking lot at work, already I've added 500 steps. And then if I take a 15-minute walk after lunch, I've done my 2,000 steps for the day.
(voice-over): Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson wears a pedometer to count his steps. And he says it's helped him lose 15 pounds. He supports the new program, a public- private partnership called "American on the Move," and says he's added 7,000 steps to his daily routine.
TOMMY THOMPSON, HHS SECRETARY: It's not rocket science, it's less calorie intake and more exercise and you're going to improve your health.
COHEN: Now, no one's saying that 2,000 more steps or 100 fewer calories will solve the nation's obesity problem, but at least it's a simple, relatively easy start.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Studies show that not only will walking help you control your weight, it can also help control diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease -- Bill.
HEMMER: Elizabeth, you also know there are detractors out there who say this will not put a dent at all in the obesity rate in America. What do they say to those?
COHEN: Well what they say to those is look, we have tried so many other things. We have tried getting people to get out there and get their heart rate up to whatever rate for 30 minutes a day, five days a week. We've tried all these other more ambitious plans and they haven't worked. And there's a theory that one of the reasons they haven't worked is that those plans were just too ambitious and that what's needed is something more modest, something that people can actually do.
HEMMER: So this will prevent you from gaining weight, so they say. What if you want to lose weight?
COHEN: Well if you want to lose weight, then you have to do more. And that is one of the things that I've heard about this plan is that some people say you know what, it's just -- it's just really not enough, and because if you want to lose weight, you really have to do more. Instead of 2,000 steps, you'll have to do 4,000, or 6,000 or 8,000. Instead of cutting out 100 calories, it's cutting out 200 or 300 or 400. So you will have to go more if you are one of the many, many Americans who actually needs to lose weight, not just prevent weight gain.
HEMMER: And it all starts with personal desire, too, they'll tell you, won't they?
COHEN: That's right.
HEMMER: Thanks, Elizabeth, good to see you.
COHEN: Thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
