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Center-Sinai Animal Hospital
Serving the Los Angeles Community since 1969
10737 Venice Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 559-3770
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Welcome to our new service, animal health alerts. We are posting news here of important stories relating
to animal-related health issues that may impact humans or pets.
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Pet Health Alert
Walking Your Dog -- Powerful Practice to Prevent or
Counteract Obesity in Your Dog While Helping You
Maintain Good Health, Too!
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LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH
COMMUNICABLE DISEASE CONTROL and PREVENTION DIVISION
VETERINARY PUBLIC HEALTH AND RABIES CONTROL
FROM: C. Patrick Ryan, D.V. M., M. P. H.
Chief, Veterinary Public Health and Rabies Control
SUBJECT: WALKING AWAY OBESITY WITH A DOG
Obesity is a major public health problem in people and
their pets the United States. However, the nation is
slow to act. In a recent telephone survey, surprisingly,
although 1/3 of the animal owners indicated that their
pets were slightly overweight or obese, less than 1% of
these owners considered this to be a chronic health
problem.
New research from the University of Missouri has found
that people who walk dogs are more consistent about
regular exercise and show more improvement in fitness
than people who walk with a human companion.
The article “Dog Walking and Physical Activity in the
United States” published in Preventing Chronic Disease
reported regular physical activity is important for
preventing obesity and other chronic diseases. Despite
these substantial health benefits, fewer than one half
of adults engage in recommended levels of physical
activity, and nearly 25% of adults do not participate in
any leisure-time physical activity. Walking is one of
the most popular leisure-time physical activities among
adults and has been associated with long-term adherence
to regular physical activity.
The authors reported walking a dog could help a large
proportion of the U.S. population to increase their
physical activity as well as that of their dogs. There
are approximately 65 million dogs in U.S. households;
39% of U.S. households include at least one dog, and 35%
have two or more.
An estimated 25% to 40% of dogs in the United States are
overweight or obese. Inactivity has been shown to be a
significant risk factor for obesity in studies of dogs
and cats, and both sedentary pet behavior and owner
lifestyle may contribute to the development of canine
and feline obesity. The Humane Society of the United
States recommends twice daily walking for dogs’ health
and fitness. Dog walking as a method for increasing
human physical activity has not been extensively
studied.
Dog walking and weight reduction
Last year’s annual conference of the International
Society for Anthrozoology covered several topics; two of
which were “Walk A Hound, Lose A Pound” a community
shelter dog walking study providing adults and families
with children an innovative way to increase physical
activity and “Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound and Stay Fit
for Seniors” studies effects of shelter dog walking on
fitness and social support of older adults.
VPH&RC collaborated with the Physical Activity Program
to promote the benefits of dog walking.
According to the 2007-2008 National Pet Owners Survey,
around 63% of all USA households (that’s about 71.1
million) are pet owners. That is a gigantic audience to
target.
Walking dogs is also good for healing heart disease.Walking dogs is not only good for reducing obesity, the
National Institutes of Health reported in the March 30,
2010 issue of HealthDay News on “Man’s Best Friend Helps
Mend Broken Hearts.” The innovative program, called
Cardiac Friends, is a partnership between ProHealth Care
and Humane Animal Welfare Society of Waukesha County, in
Wisconsin. Motivating patients to get active and stay
active can be challenging. But the year-old Cardiac
Friends program gives animal aficionados recovering from
open heart surgery, stent implantation or angioplasty a
compelling reason to work out.
Several pragmatic approaches will be needed to solve the
obesity problem in the USA, but walking the dog is a
step towards a solution.
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NOTE: We wish to thank the SCVMA for circulating this
advisory to members. |
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