When I started this blog about the Chester Valley Trail and
its economic importance, I really did not anticipate that one of the most
important aspects of a facility like the Trail would be the economics of
health. The more I have looked into it,
the more I realize that trails like the Chester Valley Trail provide value to
the community in health terms that rival and even surpass those of other, more
commonly referenced, benefits.
It is for this reason, therefore, that the next few editions
of this blog about the Chester Valley Trail Funding Project will concentrate on
health and how the Chester Valley Trail will relate to it and benefit Chester
County. The first edition, this one,
will deal with walking the Trail rather than biking and how “A Step In the
Right Direction”[1] will
be of benefit to us all.
It is an important fact that, once a trail is in place
within a community, the more it encourages those who might not ordinarily do an
activity like walking or biking to do it.
The trail provides a safe, easy and focused place to start active
recreation; it beckons the sedate person to use it and become active.
So, what happens when this ordinarily sedate person uses the
Trail to do something like walking? The
list of benefits will surprise you:
·
Prevent heart disease – Those who do not
exercise are twice as likely to have coronary heart disease[3]
·
Decrease hypertension – Walking lowers blood
pressure[4]
and correlates with blood pressure improvement.[5]
·
Improve mental health – Walking releases
endorphins which are natural tranquilizers and serve to reduce anxiety.[6]
·
Slow the aging process – An inactive lifestyle
accelerates aging while those who exercise age less rapidly[7]
·
Prevent Osteoporosis – “ . . .walking help[s]
reverse the negative effects of osteoporosis . . .”[8]
·
Prevent and control diabetes – Walking can help
prevent diabetes and . . . protect against the degenerative effects of
diabetes.[9]
·
Relieve back pain - Walking prevents and cures the most common
kinds of muscular backache, and even some kinds[with] a disk problem[11]
·
Improves air quality – A real stretch you
say? Not so: walking can replace
short-distance motor vehicle trips, which are the least fuel-efficient and
generate the most pollution per mile traveled.[12]
I saved the best for last, though. “Each time you go outside and walk . . . you
will come home feeling better than you did when you left. Your body will feel better. Your head will
feel clearer, and your stress level will have decreased. . . . As you notice
improvements in your body and state of mind, you may also want to start eating
healthy foods . . . which will encourage you to continue your new healthy
habits.”[13]
[1] A Step In The Right Direction, The Health Benefits of Hiking and Trails
by the American Hiking Society
[2] Walking for Health, Walking for a
Healthy Heart, by the American Heart Association
[3]
Edmund Burke, Ph.D., Benefits of
Bicycling and Walking to Health (for FHWA), Washington, DC, 1992, p10
[4]
Alfred A. Bove, Active Control of
Hypertension, The Physician and Sports Medicine, Vol. 26, No. 4, http://www.physsportsmed.com/issues/1998/04apr/bove.htm,
1998
[5]
Ibid
[6]
Bricklin and Spilner, p. 84
[7]
Ibid, p. 3
[8] A Step In The Right Direction, Ibid
[9]
Bricklin and Spilner, p. 38
[10]
Bricklin and Spilner, p. 8
[11] A Step In The Right Direction, Ibid
[12]
Burke, p 4
[13] A Step In The Right Direction, Ibid
