• By Lynne Mitchell
• Posted Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Progress Report on Healthy People 2020 Goals for Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity

Although progress has been made, there is still a lot of work to be done to meet the Healthy People goals for nutrition, physical activity and obesity. These indicators help us assess the health of the entire Nation and are a call to action to improve the health of residents at the national, state and community levels.

Click here to view infographics on Leading Health Indicators.

For optimal health, adults over 18 years of age should get at least 30 minutes of physical activity each day and children should get at least 60 minutes/day. If you don’t have an active job and sit a lot, try to get up and move 5 minutes every hour. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways – walking, walking in place or chair exercises. Other ways to increase activity:

• Walk your dog
• Garden or yardwork
• Park in a spot farther from the entrance when running errands
• Ride a bike for transportation, errands and short trips
• Get off one bus stop early before your destination
• Take the stairs
• Schedule time to be active
• Play with your kids or grandkids
• Take an exercise class at a local recreation center

For maximum nutrition, try to eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Ways to boost your fruit and veggie intake:

• Eat fruit at breakfast (on cereal, oatmeal, in a smoothie, etc.)
• Snack on fruits or vegetables (great with hummus, peanut butter, cheese or yogurt)
• Eat larger portion sizes of vegetables at meals
• Experiment with vegetables and fruits in recipes (banana bread, diced veggies in chili, grate carrots in tomato sauce, etc.)