What Should the Surgeon General Say to Get More People Walking?

What if cars came with a Surgeon General’s warning like the ones that come on cigarette packs: "Sitting in this seat could lead to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, and divorce."

Surgeon General Regina Benjamin is getting ready to go halfway there. She announced in December that she’d be issuing a call to action on walking sometime in 2014. Yesterday, she and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked for help crafting the call.

The CDC opened a docket yesterday to solicit information from the public “on walking as an effective way to be sufficiently active for health.” That information will be used as part of the call to action.

The wording is notable. The CDC is making the case that even if walking is the only exercise you do, it could be “sufficient” to stay healthy.  It echoes the recent findings of Australian researchers, who concluded that going to the gym isn’t as effective as active transportation at keeping weight off – largely because it’s easier to work exercise into your day when it accomplishes two goals at once.

What the CDC is trying to do is identify not only what government agencies can do, but what civic organizations, health care providers, educational institutions, worksites, industry, and others can do to provide access to "safe, attractive and convenient places to walk (and wheelchair roll)."

The CDC is off to a good start even before the public chimes in with its collective wisdom. The request for public comment laid out the scope of the problem:

The CDC also highlights population groups with lower activity levels:

The agency acknowledges that it’s not just an exercise promotion campaign – it’s about changing the built environment:

And the request for information calls attention to walking as a form of transportation, not just exercise:

Having laid out the problem, the CDC is looking for help on the solution. They're requesting information from the public on “evidence-based strategies” for breaking down barriers to walking and “community walkability” for people of all ages who don't get enough exercise. They're especially interested in helping people with developmental and chronic disease-related disabilities to be more active, and also "groups having health and physical activity disparities or lack resources and opportunities to be physically active" -- racial and ethnic minorities and low-income communities.

You have until Tuesday, April 30 to submit a comment. (Instructions are available in the docket.) If you do, please copy it into the comment section here as well -- we'd also like to hear new ideas for solving this persistent problem.