Exercise as Medicine

Rob Hughes, MD
Director of Student Health Services

As a physician, if I had a single treatment that could help prevent and treat diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease, osteoporosis, cancer, depression, anxiety, attention deficit disorder, and dementia, I would prescribe it to all of my patients. Exercise has been scientifically proven to do all of these things. While most of these conditions are rare for our students now, they can develop over time, and exercise has been shown to help reduce the incidence of all of these conditions. Even in ancient times, the benefits of exercise were known. The philosopher Hippocrates in his book Regimen wrote, "Eating alone will not keep a man well; he must also take exercise. For food and exercise work together to produce health." Because of the increasing recognition of the importance of exercise, there are now initiatives recommending that physical activity be assessed at every student health visit.

For some students, college will be the first time that regular exercise is not required of them. As part of the liberal arts education at Westmont College, learning about healthy habits including regular exercise is part of the curriculum in the course Fitness for Life. Students are provided the tools necessary to strengthen healthy physical activity habits that can last a lifetime. Outside of the classroom, we can make a goal of creating a culture of daily movement as a facet of campus life for students, faculty and staff.

As with any recommended treatment, such as medication, there is risk of “overdose”. Overexercise can lead to health problems too, including overuse injuries. So, ideally exercise programs should be developed in consultation with a professional.

Westmont has a state of the art fitness center, but exercise does not have to take the form of sweating, huffing and puffing on a treadmill. I try to encourage my patients to participate in activities they enjoy. For me, it is paddling in the waters off of our coast line. Our local geography allows for almost any form of recreation…except snow sports. What could be a more beautiful place to walk than our campus? We even have our own Las Barrancas hiking trail, aka the Dr. Paul Willis trail, with multiple entry points, meandering through the middle of campus.

It has been said that the goal of the liberal arts education is to make the mind a better place to live. Optimal wellness keeps that mind in a healthy body. Physical activity is key to maintaining our physical and mental health.  One of our goals, at the health center, is to encourage our campus population to value and incorporate physical activity as “medicine” for healthy living.