Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body
I wholeheartedly agree with Dottores Rossi, Moretti and Locatelli in
their comments on walking to school.
I have photographs of my time in High School that could help to prove the
point.
About 40 of us attended a church-sponsored High School in the northeast
of Germany. The school had a limited number of beds in the dormitory and
some of us had to be 'farmed out' in neighbouring towns.
By far the best town was a good 30 minutes away by foot and it had
everything: Shops, pubs and girls.
The headmaster chose the lucky ones on the basis of their grades; it was
assumed that good grades made good ambassadors for the school (which, in
my case at least was an erroneous assumption).
Needless to say, my grades, by necessity, were improving all the time and
I was rewarded by being placed into the home of a farmer/butcher where
food was absolutely first class.
Each morning, especially during the colder months, we bridged the time
between rolling out of the featherbeds through a sausage, egg and fresh
hot milk breakfast in record time as we were always running late. Then the
foot march began, the speed of which was determined by which teacher
awaited us for the first session. Many were without humour where
punctuality was concerned. So, 8 times out of ten, our well-fed bodies
were seen running or speed walking to get there on time.
A comparison of the students living at the school with us lucky ones
proved the value of exercise beyond a doubt. Even then, one could tell by
looking at the annual class photos who was privileged and who was not.
As most people will know, the weather in Germany is nothing to normally
brag about but we had no choice and - like the US Postal Service- didn't
mind rain or sleet or snow.....
As the authors point out, it is a disservice to discount the value of ANY
exercise and this is such a basic truth that I can only add: Fish swims,
bird flies, man runs.
Rapid Response:
Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body
I wholeheartedly agree with Dottores Rossi, Moretti and Locatelli in
their comments on walking to school.
I have photographs of my time in High School that could help to prove the
point.
About 40 of us attended a church-sponsored High School in the northeast
of Germany. The school had a limited number of beds in the dormitory and
some of us had to be 'farmed out' in neighbouring towns.
By far the best town was a good 30 minutes away by foot and it had
everything: Shops, pubs and girls.
The headmaster chose the lucky ones on the basis of their grades; it was
assumed that good grades made good ambassadors for the school (which, in
my case at least was an erroneous assumption).
Needless to say, my grades, by necessity, were improving all the time and
I was rewarded by being placed into the home of a farmer/butcher where
food was absolutely first class.
Each morning, especially during the colder months, we bridged the time
between rolling out of the featherbeds through a sausage, egg and fresh
hot milk breakfast in record time as we were always running late. Then the
foot march began, the speed of which was determined by which teacher
awaited us for the first session. Many were without humour where
punctuality was concerned. So, 8 times out of ten, our well-fed bodies
were seen running or speed walking to get there on time.
A comparison of the students living at the school with us lucky ones
proved the value of exercise beyond a doubt. Even then, one could tell by
looking at the annual class photos who was privileged and who was not.
As most people will know, the weather in Germany is nothing to normally
brag about but we had no choice and - like the US Postal Service- didn't
mind rain or sleet or snow.....
As the authors point out, it is a disservice to discount the value of ANY
exercise and this is such a basic truth that I can only add: Fish swims,
bird flies, man runs.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests