Evening journal., 1919-11-01
MORE WALKING,
PHYSICIAN URGES
Sedentary Workers Should
Do at Least Six Miles
a Day, He Says
is AS NECESSARY
AS EVEN DIET

NEW YORK. Nov. i.-"Exercise Is al
most as important IN the conservation
OF health as is diet" says the New
York Medical Journal in an editorial on
walking and Working" sedentary
workers" II says, "or those who lead
an indoor life from compulsloV or
choice should take a certain amount
Of outdoor exercise daily with the same
regularity and care that they take their
food. A great many OF the gastrO-in-
testinal diseases which afflict senden-
iary workers and which frequently
lead TO serious disease are due TO lack
Of or insufficient exercise in the open
air. According 10 Dr. Leonard Hill, the
well-kn0wn British authority, in a
pamphlet on scientific ventilation, is
sued by the British Medical Research
Committee. sedentary workers should
ration their outdoor exercise, which, In
his opinion should never be less than
walking six miles daily or the equi'a-
lent In work in a garden or on the land.
Unfortunately, the average seden-
tary workers does not ration his out
door exercise in accordance with his
bodily needs, but. as a rule, takes only
that amount Of exercise as going TO
and from work requires OF him. Gener-
ally speaking, the measure Of his daily
walk is the distance between his home
and the railway depot at one end and
his office and the railway depot at the
other. Proximity % a depot is an
allurement. often a fatal allu,ement, TO
the sedentary worker lt shOrtens the
time needed 10 reach the Office, but II
also reduces the amount OF outdoor
exercise taken and, as Dr. Hill points
out, lessons mental yigor.
"The habit. indeed, Of plunglng. as 70
were, straight from the breakfast table
into the subway and straight out OF
the subway into the Office is a per-
niclous one, and IL would be OF benefit
physically and mentally, TO many who
live near a station il they eliminated
that station from the days program.
"In order 10 obtain the siX-mile ra-
tlon of outdoor exercise a beginning
might be made by starting earlier in
the morning and walking TO the next
station; then, perhaps, starting yet
earlier and walking 10 another station
farther on, and soon, II the office is not
too far away. walking the entire dis
tance.
There is no doubt that sedentary
workers do not have enough exercise.
The remark possibly Is more applica-
bic TO the sendentary workers OF Amer
lea than TO those Of any other nation.
assuredly than 10 those OF Great Bri-
tain. Americans are not great walkers.
and the dlstaste for walking has been
more noticeable since the advent OF the
automobiles. The business American
Is likely 10 think that walking is
waste OF valuable time, and he does not
pause 10 consider that by such means
he keeps The human machine in good
working order, a far more important
matter than that Of making money in
a hurry.
"A daily walk Is Infinitely superior in
its health-giving effects TO the daily
aperlent, and is also more beneficial
than working for some time at high
tension, or than even taking a long
rest. Working in spurts and playing or
resting in spurts. as the American usu-
ally does, is not good practice. Busi-
ness men and women should ration
their outdoor exercises, and the exer-
cises could take the form OF walking" ="