Our modern sedentary lifestyle comes at a tremendous price. In the US, physical inactivity costs our health care system roughly $330 per person, or more than $102 billion dollars a year. Even more alarming, a 2004 report issued by the World Health Organization found that physical inactivity is the fourth leading cause of death globally, with about 3.3 million deaths per year. The good news is that many studies show that just 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise can have enormous health benefits.
 

People who exercise regularly can reduce their risk and mortality from many cancers and stroke, reduce blood pressure and incidence of heart disease, lower their risk of developing diabetes, decrease depression. It can even help kids do better in school. With all these benefits, exercise is as good as medicine.
 

In 2007, the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Medical Association came to that same conclusion and launched Exercise is Medicine, a global initiative to make exercise and physical activity a part of medical treatment and prevention. The program works with health care providers to help them be consistent in prescribing physical activity to their patients and encourages them to be physically active themselves.
 

The bonus benefit of this program is being seen locally. Patients who receive prescriptions from their physician to exercise can save on memberships to local fitness facilities. The YMCA has been on the forefront of this initiative, and collaborating with physicians on a local and national level.
 

The first step of the process can be initiated by physician or patient. “About 115 local physicians have signed endorsement letters, and an additional 100 physicians are already actively prescribing,” says Felecia Fish, Lifestyle & Weight Management Specialist with the YMCA of Greater Birmingham.
 

If a doctor is unaware of the program, a patient can download a printable prescription from the Exercise is Medicine website. The prescription is used to prescribe everything from water aerobics to weight lifting.
“Anybody can utilize an Exercise if Medicine prescription for any condition that their physician feels would be helped by physical activity,” says Fish. “Once the prescription is written by the physician, a patient can take it into one of the four participating [Birmingham area] facilities.” Those locations include the YMCA, Lakeshore Foundation, Levite Jewish Community Center and the UAB Campus Recreation Center. “At the YMCA, we offer a discount on your enrollment fee to where you’re paying a co-pay,” says Fish.
 

The YMCA only started tracking the data this year, but the early numbers are significant and promising. Fish encourages anyone interested in the program to talk to their health care provider. “The national goal of this program is to have exercise be a measured vital sign like blood pressure or weight,” she says. “We really want patients to feel comfortable initiating a conversation with their doctors.”

For more on Exercise is Medicine, visit the website at www.exerciseismedicine.org or email Felecia Fish at ffish@ymcabham.org for local information.