After a visit to the doctor, you may visit your local pharmacy to fill your prescription, but in the future you may be filling that prescription at the gym. Exercise is Medicine is an initiative aiming to make exercise a standard part of a disease prevention and treatment medical paradigm in the United States.
Dr. Joyce Yates, director of health education and wellness, said the iniative’s defining principle is exercise can combat chronic diseases.
“Now, more than ever, with Americans leading such sedentary lives, it is important to relate in every situation the benefits of exercise in disease prevention,” she said.
Mississippi State University became involved in the program as a result of director of the Longest Student Health Center Dr. Bob Collins’ interest in the initiative.
“He is the lead in this program because program success depends on the physician’s view of the value of exercise in disease prevention,” Yates said. “Dr. Collins has known this exercise value for a long time and has been practicing this, but believed the partners in this effort are essential – Sanderson, Kinesiology, the MSU Bike Program and others.”
At a question and answer session for the program, Dr. Collins said a one thing he would like to see is MSU as a pedestrian campus in the future.
“There should be parking on the perimeter so the university is designed in a way that makes us walk more,” he said. “We have to get away from depending on automobiles to take us everywhere we need to go.”
Director of Recreational Sports Laura Walling said students will be able to visit a physician at the Longest Student Health Center for a free check-up as part of the initiation.
“The physician will evaluate your level of health and fitness, and if called for, will write a prescription to exercise,” she said.
Walling said students can bring the prescription to the Sanderson Center Member Services Office where a trainer will develop a workout routine that meets personal fitness goals.
“Trainers at the Sanderson Center have been through a rigorous education on the appropriate mechanics for fitness training and are fully capable of helping you with an exercise plan,” she said. “They also receive in-service training and testing throughout the semester to stay abreast of the latest trends in fitness, and there is no fee for their services.”
Staff members can also visit the LSHC for free when they make their appointment under wellness benefit, which is covered by the university insurance policy.
“Staff members who receive an exercise prescription can bring it by the Sanderson Center for a one-month complimentary membership,” she said.
Walling said the Sanderson receives over 2,000 visitors a day, 80 percent of which are students. She said studies done about freshmen show those who visited periodically throughout the week had higher GPAs and were more likely to stay in school and graduate.
Yates said the program is important to students because the exercise habits developed early in life continue throughout adulthood thus preventing chronic disease.
“It is especially important to MSU students because we live in a state that has leads in multiple chronic disease statistics,” she said. “Students must make a difference for Mississippi in developing positive health habits that will fight these statistics.”