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Washington Post
a day ago
- Washington Post
Fitness tests, constipation and confidence: The week in Well+Being
You're reading our weekly Well+Being newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox every Thursday. Everyone agrees that lots of running, jumping and playing is important for kids. But how to actually get them to do that in gym class — and enjoy it? — is still up for discussion. A staple of many of our childhoods, the presidential fitness test, might be making a comeback. As part of the test, kids were asked to do 40 push-ups, 10 pull-ups and a 6½-minute mile. (Up until the 2012-2013 school year, when it was replaced with another program.) This week, we asked people, including fitness professionals, how they felt about the test. (Check out our story to get the details.) As someone who learned to love exercising only after graduating (let's just say I'm a bigger fan of running or Pilates than dodgeball), I'm hoping that we can find a way to make 'I hate gym class' a thing of the past. Guest columnist Tracy Moore shared her health journey in a personal essay: In 2022, I gained 40 pounds in one year and was tired all the time. Before these changes, at 47, I biked and walked everywhere in my Los Angeles neighborhood. I wrote articles frequently. And I raised my daughter with ease. When I told my doctor about my health issues, she sighed, reeled off obesity risks and admonished, 'Lose weight. For your daughter.' I also met with several other doctors, most of whom blamed stress, weight gain or age for my poor health. It took three years, thousands of dollars and two inches of height for me to get the right diagnosis. Read more here about Tracy's road to the right diagnosis and treatment. Guest columnist Bob Brody wrote about his experience playing sports as an older athlete: Last year, at age 72, after a gap of almost 40 years, I resumed taking tennis lessons. I figured that if I am going to be the next Roger Federer, what better time to start than right now? Many older Americans are playing sports — in one Ipsos survey, the number of Americans ages 60 and over who played a sport was 43 percent in 2025. The number of athletes who compete in the National Senior Games — a biennial event in which participants ages 50 and above compete in more than 25 sports — more than quadrupled from 2,500 in 1987 to 11,681 in 2023. The number of Americans, 55 and older, who played tennis at least one time was 4.3 million in 2024, according to the U.S. Tennis Association. I picked up tennis again because I missed the high I got from it and knew I could still get better at it. As it happens, my activity may help me live longer. One study found that playing tennis was associated with a 9.7-year increase in lifespan compared with those who remain sedentary. Also, badminton was linked to 6.2 years, soccer 4.7, cycling 3.7 and swimming to 3.4 additional years. To find out more about how playing sports can be beneficial as you age, read Bob's story here. Our Ask a Doctor columnist is Trisha S. Pasricha, a physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School. I have to travel for work sometimes and may be gone for a week or more. I end up not having a bowel movement the entire time I'm gone. By the end, I'm bloated and miserable. Any suggestions? Here's a fact: We all poop weirdly on vacation. That goes for any kind of travel, whether for work or pleasure. Our bowel movements love a routine. We're wired to optimally poop at certain times: within the first one or two hours upon waking, soon after eating meals, after a cup of coffee and after exercise. These classic triggers tell our colon to start contracting — propelling our poop forward and helping us feel the 'urgency' to go. Because of all this, traveler's constipation is quite common. I strongly recommend you start taking something that will help at the start of the trip — even a day or two before leaving. It's always easier to get ahead of a problem than to chase after it when it becomes a crisis. Read Trisha's full response here. And use our Ask a Doctor form to submit a question, and we may answer it in a future column. Here are a few things that brought us joy this week. Let's keep the conversation going. We want to hear from you! Email us at wellbeing@ Want to know more about 'joy' snacks? Reporter and former neuroscientist Richard Sima explains what they are and how they can make you feel happier. You can also read his advice as a comic.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
The Biggest Thing Parents Do Wrong on the First Day of School, According to Teachers
This article may contain affiliate links that Yahoo and/or the publisher may receive a commission from if you buy a product or service through those links. With the start of the school year approaching, many parents are scrambling to get their little learners ready for the first day. Whether they consult the school website, their child's pediatrician, or social media to prepare, they are undoubtedly hoping that they help make the big day an A+ for their kiddos. And just how well are they doing? We spoke to teachers to find out what grade parents would get for preparing their kids. While most get a passing grade, there are definitely things caregivers could be doing better. 1. Underestimating the preparation your kid requires. 'The biggest mistake I see is parents underestimating how much preparation their child needs, especially for younger students or those starting at a new school,' Christine Beavers, PT, DPT, tells Cubby. As a school-based pediatric physical therapist in New York City, she has seen what makes the difference between a smooth transition and a stressful one. Beavers is a proponent for practice runs and visual guides and emphasizes the importance of parents considering the physical demands of the school day. For example, will your child need to climb stairs between classes while wearing a heavy backpack, walk between buildings, and/or navigate crowded hallways? 'The key is communicating with school staff early to understand expectations, then either practicing these skills at home or adapting supplies to match your child's current abilities,' she says. 'Sometimes that means starting with an easy-open lunch bag instead of a complicated Thermos, or choosing elastic-waist pants instead of buttons and zippers.' 'If your child needs additional support developing these independence skills, consider working with an occupational or physical therapist before the school year begins,' Beavers continues. 'It's much easier to build confidence at home than to troubleshoot challenges once the school routine is already underway.' 2. Focusing too much on school stuff and not enough on feeling safe and ready. Educators and administrators agree that instead of prioritizing what's inside their kids' pencil case, parents should make sure their social-emotional tool kit is full. 'We focus so much on the backpack and the lunch box, but often skip the social stories, practice runs, or visuals that help kids, especially neurodivergent ones, feel safe and ready,' says Danielle Damico, BCBA, executive director at Spiritos School in Virginia. 'Taking time to prepare them emotionally can make the first day of school less overwhelming and set the tone for a smoother transition.' Damico tries to keep things simple, fun, and visual in the weeks leading up to school and will even make short picture books for her three kids with real photos or simple graphics. 'It might say something like, 'On Monday, I will go to school. I will ride in the car with Mommy or ride the bus. When we get there, we will walk to my classroom. My teacher will say hi. I will hang up my backpack,'' she tells Cubby. 'I usually end with something reassuring like, 'School is a safe place. I have fun at my school!'' She also recommends doing a practice run. Some schools will offer 'preview days' over the summer, where students can go inside and get an idea of what's in store. But if that isn't an option, Damico says that even just getting close to the school can be beneficial. 'With my toddler twins, we walk up to the building, say 'Hi school!' to the door like it's a person,' she says. ' … Then we leave, no pressure, just making it feel familiar and safe.' Meanwhile, Cristina Barvo, teacher, parenting coach, and founder of Empower Kids for Life, says the biggest first-day-of-school challenge she's noticed is, similarly, not forgotten snacks or missing supplies. 'It's making the first-day expectations too big,' she tells Cubby. 'Parents often try to over-motivate, which can unintentionally dismiss a child's nervousness or mixed feelings about the start of school.' 'When your child shares a worry, you can say, 'There will be things that will be the same and things that will be different. I wonder what will stay the same and what will be different,'' Bravo explains. 'Then, instead of asking what was 'good' or 'bad,' ask what was the same and what was different.' If the day doesn't 'meet their expectations,' be prepared to accept those emotions and perhaps share a personal story from when a first day or big transition didn't meet your expectations either. 'This helps children see that mixed emotions are normal, and that they have the resilience to navigate them,' she explains. Final thoughts So, parents, go ahead and put down the shopping lists for a moment. Educators agree that the key to a stronger start to the academic year is not having the right notebooks, but having meaningful conversations and run-throughs before and after the first day. 'My biggest tip: Keep it short, repeat it often, make it playful, and don't wait until the night before school starts,' Damico says. 'Giving kids a week or two to build comfort really helps things go smoother on day one.' Solve the daily Crossword
Medscape
a day ago
- Medscape
Cycling and Education for Hip OA: A Cost-Effective Solution?
TOPLINE: A cycling and education intervention significantly improved self-reported function in hip osteoarthritis (OA) compared with standard physiotherapy. The group-based intervention was also cost-effective, with a cost per quality-adjusted life year below the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) threshold. METHODOLOGY: Researchers conducted a pragmatic randomized controlled trial comparing a group-based cycling and education intervention with usual physiotherapy care for hip OA (the CLEAT trial) in Bournemouth, UK. A total of 221 patients (mean age, 64.4 years; 57% women; 98% White) with hip OA, as defined by NICE criteria, who met the primary care criteria for exercise referral were randomly assigned to either cycling against hip pain intervention (CHAIN, 110 participants) or usual physiotherapy care (111 participants). Participants in the cycling group attended an 8-week program comprising education and static cycling sessions at a local leisure center, facilitated by a physiotherapist and a gym instructor, respectively. The physiotherapy group received usual one-to-one care, including exercise, education, and other physiotherapy techniques, at the local hospital or by telephone. The primary outcome was the between-group difference in the self-reported function of performing everyday activities, measured using the Hip Disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (HOOS) activities of daily living subscale at 10 weeks post-treatment. The analysis included a parallel economic evaluation from the perspective of the UK National Health Service (NHS) and personal social services, assessing cost per quality-adjusted life year at 3 months after treatment. TAKEAWAY: Patients in the cycling group showed a significant improvement in the HOOS activities of daily living score at 10 weeks post-treatment compared with those in the physiotherapy group (adjusted mean difference, 6.9; P = .0023). The cycling group experienced improvements in secondary outcomes, with significant increases in scores for symptoms and stiffness (P = .0072), sports (P = .022), and quality of life (P = .042), but no improvement in pain score. No significant differences were observed in physiologic measures such as BMI, blood pressure, or resting heart rate between the cycling and physiotherapy groups. The CHAIN intervention was cost-effective, with a base case analysis cost per quality-adjusted life year of £4092, and showed a high probability of cost-effectiveness at NICE thresholds compared with physiotherapy. IN PRACTICE: "Taken together, these findings add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that, although exercise is beneficial, between-group differences in function and pain are often small when comparing active interventions," the authors of the study wrote. "Although the study did not identify a clinically meaningful between-group difference, CHAIN's cost-effectiveness within the NHS positions it as a viable alternative to usual physiotherapy care," they added. "From the patient's perspective, cycling combined with patient education offers a simple and accessible treatment approach," experts wrote in an accompanying comment. "From the perspective of decision makers, the group-based nature of CHAIN presents a highly cost-effective option for implementation in first-line treatment. Given that a single healthcare provider can deliver this intervention to many patients at a time, CHAIN provides scalability and resource efficiency, which are essential in publicly funded healthcare systems." SOURCE: The study was led by Thomas W. Wainwright, PhD, University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust in Bournemouth, UK. It was published online on July 31, 2025, in The Lancet Rheumatology. LIMITATIONS: Most participants did not have radiographic confirmation of OA, affecting baseline severity assessment. The inability to mask participants and treatment providers introduces a risk of performance bias, potentially influencing self-reported outcomes. The exclusion of individuals unable to complete the exercise tolerance test limits applicability to those with lower fitness levels. DISCLOSURES: The study was supported by the Research for Patient Benefit Programme of the National Institute for Health and Care Research. One author disclosed receiving institutional research funding and personal fees, while another author reported receiving royalties and consulting fees from various sources. This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
