Fit Nation

Fit Nation PDF

Author: Natalia Mehlman Petrzela

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2024-04-05

Total Pages: 460

ISBN-13: 0226833364

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How is it that Americans are more obsessed with exercise than ever, and yet also unhealthier? Fit Nation explains how we got here and imagines how we might create a more inclusive, stronger future. If a shared American creed still exists, it’s a belief that exercise is integral to a life well lived. A century ago, working out was the activity of a strange subculture, but today, it’s almost impossible to avoid exhortations to exercise: Walk 5K to cure cancer! Awaken your inner sex kitten at pole-dancing class! Sweat like (or even with) a celebrity in spin class! Exercise is everywhere. Yet the United States is hardly a “fit nation.” Only 20 percent of Americans work out consistently, over half of gym members don’t even use the facilities they pay for, and fewer than 30 percent of high school students get an hour of exercise a day. So how did fitness become both inescapable and inaccessible? Spanning more than a century of American history, Fit Nation answers these questions and more through original interviews, archival research, and a rich cultural narrative. As a leading political and intellectual historian and a certified fitness instructor, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela is uniquely qualified to confront the complex and far-reaching implications of how our contemporary exercise culture took shape. She explores the work of working out not just as consumers have experienced it, but as it was created by performers, physical educators, trainers, instructors, and many others. For Petrzela, fitness is a social justice issue. She argues that the fight for a more equitable exercise culture will be won only by revolutionizing fitness culture at its core, making it truly inclusive for all bodies in a way it has never been. Examining venues from the stage of the World’s Fair and Muscle Beach to fat farms, feminist health clinics, radical and evangelical college campuses, yoga retreats, gleaming health clubs, school gymnasiums, and many more, Fit Nation is a revealing history that shows fitness to be not just a matter of physical health but of what it means to be an American.

Instant Recess

Instant Recess PDF

Author: Antronette K. Yancey

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 0520263758

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"Toni Yancey''s book is a terrific tool as we work together to promote healthy and active lifestyles."_Bill Clinton "Instant Recess is a call to all of us to get up and move. Part personal memoir, part public health manifesto, and part poetry, Yancey''s warmth and enthusiasm shine through this book. I''m betting that she can convince anyone that moving more is not only good for health, but easy and lots of fun to do."_Marion Nestle, author of What to Eat "In Instant Recess, Dr. Yancey provides the tools to get America moving, in a very accessible style with the scientific research to back it up. Her call to incorporate short exercise breaks into routine, daily activities is one step that can create a true wellness society."_Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman, Senate HELP Committee "Dr. Toni (Antronette) Yancey has influenced and impacted community health and fitness in a number of profound ways! Her book is a must read for anyone interested in living a longer, healthier, and more fulfilling life. Recently, at the First AME Church of Los Angeles, we incorporated a quick but effective fitness interlude into all three of our Sunday worship services. The enthusiastic response from our congregation was tremendous! Thank you, Dr. Yancey, for waking us up to the dangers of our sedentary lives and for awakening our desire to get into better physical shape."_Rev. Dr. John & Denise Hunter, Pastor and First Lady of First AME Church of Los Angeles, the White House-designated local lead agency for Michelle Obama''s Let''s Move LA "Instant Recess is a necessary part of a complex solution to our society''s epidemic of inactivity. It can work equally well in the corporate boardroom, school classroom, or for fans at a sporting event for that matter. It is a great place to start if we don''t want to leave anyone behind. I''m all for breaking our national inertia with a musical beat and a smile on our faces."_Dave Winfield, National Baseball Hall of Fame 2001, Executive Vice President and Senior Advisor, San Diego Padres "Dr. Yancey writes on a topic about which she is both passionate and knowledgeable. Doable in just about any setting, Instant Recess could get America moving again."_David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., 16th Surgeon General of the United States "Instant Recess is an excellent, easy to read, informative book describing how we must all change our lifestyle patterns and incorporate activity into our day. Yancey poignantly shows why ''instant recesses'' are needed by corporate Americans, educators, public health and medical professionals. This isn''t just a simple how-to book, but also a how-come."_Francine Kaufman, Head of the Center for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles "For the average person who continues to yo-yo between the hype of miracle weight loss gimmicks and the allure of fast food franchises, Instant Recess offers an easy and free solution to creating a healthier lifestyle."_Sharon Baucom, Medical Director of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services for the State of Maryland "A thoughtful and innovative approach to community-wide physical activity from a lay person''s perspective. This book is well grounded in scientific evidence that is also contextualized in simple examples and in real life experiences people will be able to relate to."_Adrian Bauman, University of Sydney "I''ve seen everyone from curmudgeonly researchers and uptight bureaucrats to former elite athletes to avowed non-exercisers sucked in by the warm, inclusive energy and ease of her approach to getting people physically active. Most are smiling, some outright laughing as they rediscover the joy of moving. Thankfully, Toni captures the essence of that joy in her book, along with the practical guidance necessary to help anyone start making physical activity a part of their life and their community again."_Mark Fenton, PBS television host and author of The Complete Guide to Walking for Health, Weight Loss, and Fitness "I read Instant Recess and couldn_t help but jump for joy. Dr. Yancey_s got the recipe for success to help turn around the epidemic of inactivity in our country. Finally we have a book that shows Americans how to build that strong base of fitness, 10 minutes of hip hopping at a time. Now, if you_ll excuse me. It_s time for me to take my Instant Recess."_Pam Peeke MD, MPH, FACP, author of Body for Life for Women, Chief Medical Correspondent for Nutrition and Fitness, Discovery Health TV "Through the San Diego Padres organization we''ve worked with Dr. Toni Yancey for nearly 4 years on various healthy eating and fitness related projects ... Dr. Yancey is an educated, dynamic, trusted and respected colleague who has a thorough knowledge of public health issues. Her knowledge, advocacy and connection to community service organizations across the country has been key. She''s recruited a great number of them to enter the fight against childhood obesity by offering a wide variety of active lifestyles options. Influencing America to move towards healthy eating, better nutrition, and into her activity routine called Instant Recess is a significant and continuous task _ It''s a pleasure working with this former collegiate athlete, Ph.D. and public servant. We need more people like Dr. Toni Yancey combatting this nationwide health crisis."_David Winfield, member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and Co-Director at UCLA Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Equity

Classroom Wars

Classroom Wars PDF

Author: Natalia Mehlman Petrzela

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2015-03-03

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 0199358478

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The schoolhouse has long been a crucible in the construction and contestation of the political concept of "family values." Through Spanish-bilingual and sex education, moderates and conservatives in California came to define the family as a politicized and racialized site in the late 1960s and 1970s. Sex education became a vital arena in the culture wars as cultural conservatives imagined the family as imperiled by morally lax progressives and liberals who advocated for these programs attempted to manage the onslaught of sexual explicitness in broader culture. Many moderates, however, doubted the propriety of addressing such sensitive issues outside the home. Bilingual education, meanwhile, was condemned as a symbol of wasteful federal spending on ethically questionable curricula and an intrusion on local prerogative. Spanish-language bilingual-bicultural programs may seem less relevant to the politics of family, but many Latino parents and students attempted to assert their authority, against great resistance, in impassioned demands to incorporate their cultural and linguistic heritage into the classroom. Both types of educational programs, in their successful implementation and in the reaction they inspired, highlight the rightward turn and enduring progressivism in postwar American political culture. In Classroom Wars, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela charts how a state and a citizenry deeply committed to public education as an engine of civic and moral education navigated the massive changes brought about by the 1960s, including the sexual revolution, school desegregation, and a dramatic increase in Latino immigration. She traces the mounting tensions over educational progressivism, cultural and moral decay, and fiscal improvidence, using sources ranging from policy documents to student newspapers, from course evaluations to oral histories. Petrzela reveals how a growing number of Americans fused values about family, personal, and civic morality, which galvanized a powerful politics that engaged many Californians and, ultimately, many Americans. In doing so, they blurred the distinction between public and private and inspired some of the fiercest classroom wars in American history. Taking readers from the cultures of Orange County mega-churches to Berkeley coffeehouses, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela's history of these classroom controversies sheds light on the bitterness of the battles over diversity we continue to wage today and their influence on schools and society nationwide.

The Surgeon General's Vision for a Healthy and Fit Nation, 2010

The Surgeon General's Vision for a Healthy and Fit Nation, 2010 PDF

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2010

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

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In the 2001 Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity, former Surgeon General David Satcher, MD, PhD, warned of the negative effects of the increasing weight of American citizens and outlined a public health response to reverse the trend. The Surgeon General plans to strengthen and expand this blueprint for action created by her predecessor. Although the country has made some strides since 2001, the prevalence of obesity, obesity-related diseases, and premature death remains too high.

Fit for War

Fit for War PDF

Author: Mary E. Fitts

Publisher: University Press of Florida

Published: 2017-06-20

Total Pages: 377

ISBN-13: 1683400178

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“Fitts combines archaeology and ethnohistory to explore Catawba strategies for retaining sovereignty and power in the colonial era. A model of interdisciplinary methodology, this book offers new insights into coalescence, colonialism, and Indigenous persistence.”—Christina Snyder, author of Slavery in Indian Country: The Changing Face of Captivity in Early America “Skillfully mobilizes a rich array of historical and archaeological evidence to recover from obscurity the decisive role that Catawba women played in guiding their society through highly precarious times.”—Daniel H. Usner Jr., author of Indian Work: Language and Livelihood in Native American History “A fascinating glimpse of the Catawba Nation during this critical period. Fitts succeeds in tracing the mechanics of individual decisions that laid the groundwork for collective change.”—William L. Ramsey, author of The Yamasee War: A Study of Culture, Economy, and Conflict in the Colonial South The Catawba Nat ion played an important role in the early colonial Southeast, serving as a military ally of the British and a haven for refugees from other native groups, yet it has largely been overlooked by scholars and the public. Fit for War explains how the Nation maintained its sovereignty while continuing to reside in its precolonial homeland near present-day Charlotte, North Carolina. Drawing from colonial archives and new archaeological data, Mary Elizabeth Fitts shows that militarization helped the Catawba maintain political autonomy but forced them to consolidate their settlements and—with settler encroachment and a regional drought—led to a food crisis. Focusing on craft and foodways, Fitts uncovers the dynamic interactions between mid-eighteenth-century Catawba communities, as well as how Catawba women worked to feed the Nation, a story missing from colonial records. Her research highlights the double-edged nature of tactics available to American Indian groups seeking to keep their independence in the face of colonization. A volume in the Florida Museum of Natural History: Ripley P. Bullen Series

Fit Nation

Fit Nation PDF

Author: Natalia Mehlman Petrzela

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2023-01-06

Total Pages: 460

ISBN-13: 022665110X

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"Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, a leading scholar and proselytizer for physical well-being, elucidates the political and social implications of America's exercise cult(ure). Delving into the paradox of why so many Americans are physically unfit, despite the power of the exercise industry, Petrzela shows fitness to be both a product and a marker of education, social class, wealth, power, and more. Like much in postwar American life, fitness has been privatized, and the resulting dominant ideology of exercise is a product of neoliberal political and culture choices. Petrzela reveals a story that puts Charles Atlas, Jane Fonda, the Chippendales, and so many lesser-known people at the center of American culture, media, and politics"--

Fit to be Citizens?

Fit to be Citizens? PDF

Author: Natalia Molina

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 9780520246485

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Shows how science and public health shaped the meaning of race in the early twentieth century. Examining the experiences of Mexican, Japanese, and Chinese immigrants in Los Angeles, this book illustrates the ways health officials used complexly constructed concerns about public health to demean, diminish, discipline, and define racial groups.

Burning Nation (Divided We Fall, Book 2)

Burning Nation (Divided We Fall, Book 2) PDF

Author: Trent Reedy

Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

Published: 2015-01-27

Total Pages: 435

ISBN-13: 0545548764

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In this wrenching sequel to Divided We Fall, Danny and friends fight to defend Idaho against a Federal takeover and the ravages of a Burning Nation. At the end of Divided We Fall, Danny Wright's beloved Idaho had been invaded by the federal government, their electricity shut off, their rights suspended. Danny goes into hiding with his friends in order to remain free. But after the state declares itself a Republic, Idaho rises to fight in a second American Civil War, and Danny is right in the center of the action, running guerrilla missions with his fellow soldiers to break the Federal occupation. Yet what at first seems like a straightforward battle against governmental repression quickly grows more complicated, as more states secede, more people die, and Danny discovers the true nature of some of his new allies. Chilling, powerful, and all too plausible, Burning Nation further establishes Trent Reedy as a provocative new voice in YA fiction.

Results Fitness

Results Fitness PDF

Author: The Nation's Leading Fitness Pros

Publisher:

Published: 2012-06

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 9780985364359

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"The nation's leading fitness pros reveal their top strategies to get you what you really want ... results"--Cover.

Fat-Talk Nation

Fat-Talk Nation PDF

Author: Susan Greenhalgh

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2015-06-24

Total Pages: 493

ISBN-13: 0801456436

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In recent decades, America has been waging a veritable war on fat in which not just public health authorities, but every sector of society is engaged in constant "fat talk" aimed at educating, badgering, and ridiculing heavy people into shedding pounds. We hear a great deal about the dangers of fatness to the nation, but little about the dangers of today’s epidemic of fat talk to individuals and society at large. The human trauma caused by the war on fat is disturbing—and it is virtually unknown. How do those who do not fit the "ideal" body type feel being the object of abuse, discrimination, and even revulsion? How do people feel being told they are a burden on the healthcare system for having a BMI outside what is deemed—with little solid scientific evidence—"healthy"? How do young people, already prone to self-doubt about their bodies, withstand the daily assault on their body type and sense of self-worth? In Fat-Talk Nation, Susan Greenhalgh tells the story of today’s fight against excess pounds by giving young people, the campaign’s main target, an opportunity to speak about experiences that have long lain hidden in silence and shame.Featuring forty-five autobiographical narratives of personal struggles with diet, weight, "bad BMIs," and eating disorders, Fat-Talk Nation shows how the war on fat has produced a generation of young people who are obsessed with their bodies and whose most fundamental sense of self comes from their size. It reveals that regardless of their weight, many people feel miserable about their bodies, and almost no one is able to lose weight and keep it off. Greenhalgh argues that attempts to rescue America from obesity-induced national decline are damaging the bodily and emotional health of young people and disrupting families and intimate relationships.Fatness today is not primarily about health, Greenhalgh asserts; more fundamentally, it is about morality and political inclusion/exclusion or citizenship. To unpack the complexity of fat politics today, Greenhalgh introduces a cluster of terms—biocitizen, biomyth, biopedagogy, bioabuse, biocop, and fat personhood—and shows how they work together to produce such deep investments in the attainment of the thin, fit body. These concepts, which constitute a theory of the workings of our biocitizenship culture, offer powerful tools for understanding how obesity has come to remake who we are as a nation, and how we might work to reverse course for the next generation.