IN PRAISE OF WALKING, by Shane O’Mara (2019)
I have to admit, it isn’t often that I get validation from a scientist to indicate that I’m on the right track to live a long and healthy life (if I don’t get hit by a bus, first! Ha-ha!). As a child, in the primary grades, I was too busy to sit still. I can remember kids being told to “sit on your hands” (in order to pay better attention). That was a struggle. Like Jean-Jacques Rousseau, I couldn’t think unless my body was moving. Nowadays teachers realize that small children need to move to learn. So Shane O’Mara’s message hits home.
As a neuroscientist, Shane goes into great detail about the positive effects of walking, on our brain health, through the spinal cord, and on our lung and heart health. He goes to the cellular level in the hippocampal formation of the brain, which is responsible for memory and cognition. For example, neurogenesis—the growth of the network of tiny blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients to brain cells—happens in the hippocampal formation, when actively-working muscles (arms, diaphragm, abdomen, neck and legs) produce a certain molecule which is carried through the blood to the brain. I learned about the hippocampus in Lisa Genova’s book called Remember (2021), and wrote a blog about it last month. Neuroscientists are worth their weight in gold!
Taking another approach to the value of walking, I remember a Canadian study, called the EDI (Early Development Instrument, 2001, 2003 & 2005) by McMasters University in Ontario, with UBC, which asked Kindergarten teachers to assess each of their students in five domains: physical, social, emotional, language and cognition, and communication and general knowledge. The physical domain covered physical readiness for school, physical independence, and gross and fine motor skills. Of the many statements in this part of the survey, one was: The child goes downstairs putting two feet on each step, one after the other. (Answer Yes or No). Imagine a child of 5 going downstairs putting one foot after the other on each step. Shocking, IMO! But it is an indicator of poor physical development, and a risk of poor school readiness. Some parents think they are showing their love by carrying their child a lot. Uh-uh, not good for the child’s physical development. Like putting a baby in a baby walker (on wheels), which interrupts the baby’s normal development from crawling to walking.
At the other end of the spectrum, regular walking as you get older, slows and can even reverse the ageing of our brains. Generally, walking improves cognitive control, creativity and mood (like an anti-depressant). Besides that, it “helps protect and repair organs that have been subject to stresses and strains.” (p.11) Regarding ageing and walking, as Shane puts it: “You don’t get old until you stop walking, and you don’t stop walking because you’re old.” (p.11) Old age is a state of mind. Right?
…and Movement is Medicine with no side-effects. Wanna dance?
Seriously, I recommend this book to all of you, young and old.
Fiona