Sports legend blames Scottish government for ill-health among women

[Estelle Menz]

At one of the social events I attended while visiting friends in the U.S., the topic of athletic super stars was discussed. Thankfully, the marital problems of the most recent sports legend to display poor judgement were not mentined. Instead, we discussed how sports figures are not as active in promoting good health habits in the U.S.

The problem overweight girls has been in the news in Scotland as a result of scathing criticism against government indifference from a legendary rugby player-John Beattie. Straight talk reveals unvarnished truth. A sampling of Mr. Beattie's opinion of the Scottish governments indifference to the health of young women. He said: “Because it’s not a public order issue, because they’re not puking up through alcohol or giving themselves lung cancer through smoking, it’s hidden from view and, therefore, not a sexy topic as far as our leaders are concerned. "

It seems this kind of candor would be helpful in America.. Mr. Beattie's pronoucement was made in advance of the release of a report from the Physical Activity Task Force.
="http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/health/rugby-legend-lack-of-ex...

[Cecil Verley]

It is helpful to have high profile people come forward to speak on health issues. Unfortunately, most of our celebreties in the US are interested in specific diseases and not health in general. Jennifer Lopez (actress & singer) had made public service spots to encourage women to get vaccinated against rubella. Michael J. Fox (actor) is a spokesperson for Alzheimers after being diagnosed about ten years ago when he was only 40.
It is hard in the US to get people to think of health as something they should want for themselves. The emphasis is on youth (so cosmetic surgery is big business) or on high performance athletics, when all most people would be quite healthy walking 30 minutes per day at least three days per week.