Dr. Ory appointed chair of American College of Sports Medicine committee

Regents and Distinguished Professor Marcia Ory, Ph.D., M.P.H., of the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) School of Rural Public Health, has been appointed chair of the Exercise is Medicine (EIM) Older Adult Committee by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).

ACSM is the world’s largest sports medicine and exercise science organization. With more than 45,000 members and certified professionals worldwide, it is dedicated to advancing and integrating scientific research to provide educational and practical applications of exercise science and sports medicine.

“Because of your extensive experience and leadership ability, I am pleased to appoint you to a three-year term as chair,” states William Dexter, M.D., ACSM president-elect.

“Despite the well-known benefits of physical activity, more than half of American adults do not meet the national physical activity guidelines,” Dr. Ory said. “Exercise is Medicine is an important strategy to address one of the greatest public health problems of our day. Encouraging primary care physicians and other health care providers to include exercise when designing treatment plans for patients is an important way of spreading the word about the benefits of exercise. This is especially important for older adults who are among the most sedentary segment of the American population.”

The Older Adult Committee will be focused on helping physicians know how to talk to older adults about physical activity and tailor physical activity recommendations to their specific health care conditions, according to Dr. Ory.

“We want to encourage older adults who may be afraid to exercise because of their age or health conditions to talk about their physical activity concerns with their health care providers so that older adults can learn what adaptations may be needed to enable them to exercise safely,” Dr. Ory. “The public health goal is to get more older Americans active!”