U.S. Falls Short Of Fitness Goals

By the year 2000, America was supposed to be on the run-or at least a brisk walk-into healthful physical activity.

It won't happen.

Americans are not going to meet the physical activity objectives of the federal government's Healthy People 2000 plan. They are on track to be generally inactive, as usual.

It's the exercise version of the Year 2000 problem-except, in this case, it's the people, not the computers, who won't work. Officials are making plans instead for the year 2010.

"Clearly, it hasn't turned out," Surgeon General David Satcher said.

The latest review of the 13 Healthy People objectives for physical activity and fitness shows success in only one objective, availability of workplace fitness programs.

Healthy People set varying targets, depending on the size of the company workforce. For instance, the government wanted 80 percent of employers of 750 and more workers to have such programs; 83 percent had done so as of 1992.