I recently read an article about Derrick Crandall. He’s the president and CEO of the American Recreation Coalition, an organization that is “dedicated to the protection and enhancement of everyone’s right to health and happiness through recreation.” In the article I read, Crandall addressed the obesity epidemic in the United States and said that “physical activity is the number way to increase the nation’s health.”

It’s true that people in the United States are fatter than ever and that our children could be facing an even more severe obesity epidemic in years to come if we don’t get them away from the television and video games and into more physical activities.

For me, my camping trips are the healthiest trips I take. They are the only trips I take where I don’t gain weight and it’s not because I’m munching on lettuce all day. It’s because I get in a lot of physical activity because the main focus of our camping trips is to explore the area where we are camping which means a lot of hiking and biking.

That’s not to say I’m a “skinny-mini” person. I’ve battled a weight problem most of my life. But, I’ve often said if I could live in my camper at a campground I don’t think I would have any weight problems at all.

The biggest reason is that the physical activity/exercise I’m getting while camping doesn’t seem like exercise. It’s fun. Walking on a treadmill is not fun. Walking along the beach is a lot of fun. Riding an exercise bike stinks. Riding my bicycle on a scenic outdoor trail is really enjoyable.

And when my brother and sister-in-law take their three kids camping, they are doing something from morning until night. Even though they take a television with a DVR for movie watching at night and during stormy weather, during the day the kids are constantly outside playing and having a good time. Camping is their number one favorite activity.

So I can easily see how camping and being healthy intertwine.

Crandall is currently putting a little different twist on things. He’s trying to help get funds to help improve public grounds and parks, which would help improve the quality of camping experiences for people, which would get them outdoors and doing more physical activity.

It’s no secret that our national parks, and many of our state parks, are woefully underfunded with facilities that falling apart and outdated and not suited for the type and size of recreational vehicles many people own today. Crandall believes that “increased funding for America’s public lands and the promotion of outdoor recreation activities in general could actually lower America’s health-care costs while improving the nation’s quality of life.”

I think he’s right.

For more information, go the American Recreation and Coalition website by clicking here.