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The Newest Vital Sign? Exercise.

We’ve landed in those muddy weeks between Thanksgiving and the end-of-year holidays when indulgence in food seems to be on lots of people’s minds. Whether talking with friends, family or work colleagues, food, recipes and festivities where we might enjoy food or showcase our recipes become common threads.

These conversations are inevitably followed in the new year by concern about how to shed any pounds we may have accumulated during the holidays. Diets are evaluated and exercise plans discussed. Now, thanks to a Kaiser Permanente program started in 2009, routine medical office visits are another place members can talk about exercise. The program is called Exercise as a Vital Sign and it involves medical assistants — along with checking heart rate, blood pressure, and weight — asking patients about their physical activity and recording this information in their electronic medial records.

Since its launch a few years ago, the program has spread across all Kaiser Permanente regions. A recent Kaiser Permanente study found that the simple act of asking patients about their exercise habits is linked to making small but significant improvements in their health. That one question helps bring awareness to the importance of physical activity. During the eighteen-month period of the study, researchers found an association between the implementation of the program and loss of weight for some patients and improved glucose control for patients with diabetes.

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