Archive for the ‘Contributed Articles’ Category

Health in the Arab World

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

I found the following news story over at Yahoo News. 
What I found interesting about is is that this step toward health is
being taking in an Arab country where smoking is far more prevalent
than it is here in the US. 

“BAGHDAD – The Iraqi Cabinet has approved a draft bill to stamp out smoking in public places, the first such bill in a country where
lighting up is virtually a rite of passage for most young men, a
government spokesman said Thursday.

The law aims to curb the number of people who start smoking and raise awareness about the dangers of cigarettes, said spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh. The bill still needs to be approved by parliament, which is in recess until September.

If passed, the Iraqi law would be one of the region’s most comprehensive bans, similar to many laws in the U.S. and Europe.

Smoking is common in many Arab countries, where a pack of cigarettes can cost less than 50 cents. Though there have been modest efforts to curb smoking, there are few comprehensive restrictions on where smokers can light up.”

What do you think of this?

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How Much Exercise Is Golf?

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

Oftentimes I’m asked how much exerciese is golf.  It’s obviously not as vigorous a workout as is running or weightlifting.  The question is whether swinging a club counts at any level towards a healthy lifestyle.

Now if you are renting a motorized cart and drinking beers for most of the round, you’ll end up consuming more calories than you will expend.  And since there is no hard contraction of muscles when you swing a club, there really is no fitness value to the event no matter how relaxing and fun it may be to hang with your bros.

Of course if you carry your clubs and walk the course there is more caloric expenditure so typically there is marginal fitness value to the outing.  The issue is that you never raise your heart rate significantly so it’s not going to dramatically improve your carido vascular health.  If your back is bad and you cannot carry your clubs, you may want to look into a pull or push cart.  The push carts are now ergonmically designed to save your back.

And one final consideration when you are playing during hot weather – be sure to keep hydrated.  You can find some golf coolers designed to attach to your golf bag or to take along in your golf cart.

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