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Should identify more current examples for equality specific examples for racism. Proof-read more carefully

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Even though there are people in the united states who are lazy and aren't involved in physical activity, the US has become more aware of the importance of physical fitness. Programs like weight watchers allow people to stay healthy.

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Medical Associates of Northwest Arkansas

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To put it simply, physical activity and exercise is important for everyone. Children, adolescents, and adults of all ages need regular physical activity. Physical activity promotes good health, and you should stay active throughout all stages of your life regardless of your body type or BMI.

Understanding the benefits of physical fitness and knowing how active you should be can help you maintain good health and improve your overall quality of life. Here are a few benefits of regular physical activity that demonstrate the importance of physical fitness.

Save money

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chronic diseases cause 7 out of 10 deaths in the U.S., and treating chronic diseases accounts for 86% of U.S. healthcare costs. While some diseases cannot be prevented, you can reduce your risk for certain disease - such as heart disease and diabetes - through reducing risky behaviors and living a healthy lifestyle.

Making healthy choices, such as engaging in regular physical activity, can reduce your risk for many health issues and complications that can result in expensive medical care.

Increase your life expectancy

Numerous studies have shown that regular physical activity increases life expectancy and reduces the risk of premature mortality. There's not a magic formula that translates hours of physical activity into hours of life gained, but research suggests that people who are more active tend to be healthier and tend to live longer.

Reduce your risk of injury

Regular exercise and physical activity increase muscle strength, bone density, flexibility, and stability. Physical fitness can reduce your risk for and resilience to accidental injuries, especially as you get older. For example, stronger muscles and better balance mean that you're less likely to slip and fall, and stronger bones mean that your less likely to suffer bone injuries should you take a tumble.

Improve your quality of life

A sedentary lifestyle and a lack of physical activity can take a toll on a person's body. Physical inactivity is associated with an increased risk for certain types of cancer, numerous chronic diseases, and mental health issues. Exercise, however, has been shown to improve mood and mental health, and provides numerous health benefits. Of course physical fitness also allows you to do things that you may not otherwise be able to do.

Stay active

Staying active and healthy allows you to do activities that require a certain level of physical fitness. For example, hiking to the top of a mountain is a rewarding experience that instills a sense of accomplishment and provides spectacular scenery, but there are people who cannot experience this due to fitness limitations.

But even walking around the zoo with your family or playing on the playground with your children can be challenging for those who neglect physical activity for extended periods of time. Being active means that it's easier to stay active as you get older.

Improve your health

There are numerous health advantages to physical fitness. Regular exercise and physical activity promotes strong muscles and bones. It improves respiratory, cardiovascular health, and overall health. Staying active can also help you maintain a healthy weight, reduce your risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and reduce your risk for some cancers.

In other words, staying active is a crucial part of maintaining good health and wellness.

Here are the CDC physical activity guidelines for children, adults, adults over 65, and pregnant or postpartum women.

Encourage your family to be more active, and challenge yourself to meet daily or weekly physical activity goals. Play outdoor sports with the whole family, schedule time each day to go to the gym, or pick up healthy, active hobbies like hiking or cycling. National Physical Fitness and Sports Month is a great time to get more active, but don't stop at the end of the month. Make exercise and physical activity a permanent part of your daily routine!

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The Importance of Physical Fitness - Medical Associates of Northwest Arkansas

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Physical fitness is important for everyone at every stage of life. Here are just a few of the benefits that regular physical activity provides!

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Americans value freedom and it is no coincidence that it is in our roots as a nation. Americans feel safe in our country because we have a military and other services that other countries don't but are very important. 67% of Americans say that America values freedom of speech more than any other place in the world and 61% of Americans say that America values freedom of religion more than any other place in the world.

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Americans say they are more tolerant and open-minded than their parents. Among the issues that rate more morally acceptable today than a decade ago: homosexuality, human cloning, pre-marital sex, and having a child out of wedlock. At the same time, half believe the economic system is unfair to middle- and working-class Americans, and only 17 percent believe Wall Street executives share fundamental American values. In all, two-thirds think the country is heading in the wrong direction, 69 percent believe the country's values have deteriorated since the 1970s, and nearly half say values will further weaken over the next 10 years.

Such are the highlights of The Atlantic/Aspen Institute American Values Survey. Elsewhere on the site, pollster Mark Penn provides a full analysis of the survey, which was conducted by his firm, Penn Schoen Berland. Below, a brief summary in charts:

Two-thirds of those surveyed say the country is heading in the wrong direction ...

... 7 in 10 say people's values have been getting worse in America ...

... and nearly half expect American values to weaken over the next decade.

Americans are split over whether their values are stronger or weaker than the rest of the world's ...

... while freedom of speech and freedom of religion are cited as the top examples of America's superior values compared to other places in the world.

The influence of religion on American life is decreasing.

11 percent of Americans don't believe in God ...

... half seldom or never attend church ...

... but religion is still important to half of all Americans.

Most Americans say they are more open and tolerant than their parents.

Two-thirds of Americans think the U.S. economy is on the wrong track ...

... and half think the economic system is unfair to middle- and working-class people.

6 in 10 Americans believe budget deficits undermine American values ...

... and more than half would raise taxes on the wealthy and businesses.

Only 17 percent think Wall Street executives share America's fundamental values ...

... and of those who say Wall Street values are different, 9 in 10 say they are worse.

7 in 10 believe elected officials reflect mainly the values of the wealthy ...

... and Americans are broadly united in their belief that money and lobbyists have too much influence in politics.

More than half do not expect their personal information to be private when they use social media ...

... though Americans are more worried about government knowing their personal lives than about about private companies.

Finally, more than three-quarters of Americans believe people are typically motivated by self-interest -- and just 20 percent believe them to be generally altruistic.

Related links:

Overview and analysis, by Mark Penn
How technology is shaping young people, by Rebecca Rosen
Government of, by, and for the elderly, by Derek Thompson
Should America try to spread its values abroad? by Conor Friedersdorf
The full results (PDF)

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.

Bob Cohn is the president of The Atlantic. He oversees the magazine's business and editorial teams on its principal platforms: print, digital, video, live events, and consulting. He was named to the job in 2014 after serving five years as editor of Atlantic Digital, where he built and managed teams at TheAtlantic.com, The Wire, and CityLab, growing TheAtlantic.com's audience ten-fold.

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21 Charts That Explain American Values Today

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Americans say they are more tolerant and open-minded than their parents. Among the issues that rate more morally acceptable today than a decade ago: homosexuality, human cloning, pre-marital sex, and having a child out of wedlock. At the same time, half believe the economic system is unfair to middle- and working-class Americans, and only 17 percent believe Wall Street executives share fundamental American values.

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- Equality has not been very good in the United States whether it is women's rights or segregation with African Americans
- On August 18, 1920, Women in the United States were officially allowed to vote and that was not right. Women should have been able to vote a long tine before that because they play a huge role in American Society whether it is in the work force or just in general
- African American segregation has been on the low lately but, was the countries biggest problem in the older times as slavery died down and was abolished, People were now being forced to go to special bathrooms or sit at a certain seat on the bus which was awful

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Americans are sympathetic towards others who face natural disasters, disease, and inequality. Many Americans take part in service projects to aid in these issues. 25% of Americans volunteer regularly and 50.5 % donate 25 dollars or more to charity annually

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Unlike the 141 billionaires who have pledged to give away at least half of their wealth to charity through the "Giving Pledge," an effort started by philanthropists Warren Buffet and Bill and Melinda Gates, most of us don't have the big extra dollars to help out our favorite charities. So the vast majority of Americans need to help by volunteering their services instead.

According to the Corporation for National Community Service, 25.3 percent of Americans volunteer, which is 62.8 million volunteers. They average 32.1 volunteer hours per person, per year, which comes to 7.9 billion hours of service, the equivalent of $184 billion. In addition, 50.5 percent of Americans donate $25 or more to charity annually.

Volunteering to help religious activities accounts for 34 percent of all volunteer hours. Education welcomes 26 percent, social services, 15 percent, health related fields garner 8 percent, civic duty receives 5 percent, while sports and the arts are each 4 percent. What is encouraging is that all ages volunteer, so the ethics of volunteering is being passed down from generation to generation. Volunteers under 24 years old account for 22.6 percent of all volunteers, while ages 25-44 are 26.7 percent, ages 45-64 are 27.4 percent and those over 65 account for 23.6 percent.

The discouraging number though is the discrepancy of volunteer participation throughout the states. While it is encouraging to see Utah with a volunteer rate of 46 percent of the population, followed by Idaho at 35.8 percent, Wisconsin at 35.4 percent, Minnesota at 35.3 percent and Kansas at 35.1 percent; it is quite disheartening to see Florida at 20.1 percent, Nevada at 19.4 percent, New York at 19.2 percent and Louisiana with only 17.4 percent volunteering. The best city is Salt Lake City at 37.5 percent while the worst bigger city is Miami at 14 percent.

Why do people volunteer? Energize Inc. reports that most people find themselves in need at some point in their lives, so today you may be the person with the ability to help and tomorrow you may be the recipient of another's volunteer effort. This is one reason our society volunteers. Another reason is "doing good" has been embedded in us since we began grade school. Every day we are bombarded with disheartening news stories of which most issues we cannot influence or control. So volunteering becomes a proactive way of doing something to make the world a better place where we can actually help our community and others. A third reason people volunteer is to do something they love, whether they are a gardener helping to clean up a blight in their city or a carpenter helping to build or repair a home. Volunteering can help new people in a community make new friends who share their interests and values. It can also can help you polish your resume with a commitment to help others, work in a new type of environment and help develop new skills, either hands-on skills or leadership expertise.

Each volunteer's story is unique. The Arizona Republic recently reported about Keith Colson of Phoenix, who was part of volunteer groups as a youth and wanted to teach his son the same values which began by giving food to the homeless people on street corners together. They then volunteered for years at The Salvation Army where he met another volunteer who recently became his wife. Reader's Digest told the story of Austen Pearce of Maricopa, Ariz. who started volunteering at a food bank at age ten and noticed the produce was past its prime. He lobbied his city for a community garden and four years later he is supplying 200 needy families with fresh produce he and other volunteers are growing. What is your story or what is the story you are going to create?

If you want to volunteer but don't know how, go to the Hands On Network which has 250 volunteer action centers matching 2.6 million volunteers to 236,000 different nonprofit initiatives. Or visit Volunteer Match which connects millions of people who want to volunteer to help animals, children, the homeless, their community, education and many more causes. And at DollarDays on our Facebook page, we are giving away $5,000 in products to help volunteers help their favorite cause, so nominate a volunteer or if you are now volunteering, nominate yourself!

Community service is not political and it is not mandated by the state. It is something that comes from deep within our core values. Helping others can be as simple as washing dishes at your local shelter or delivering a meal to an elderly shut in. Can you imagine the impact on our country if just another 10 percent of our friends and neighbors decided to volunteer for a worthy cause?

Benjamin Franklin, one of the most famous early Americans, is also known as the Founding Father of American volunteerism. He gathered volunteers to sweep the streets of Philadelphia, organized the nation's first volunteer fire department, established a voluntary militia and organized a philosophical society. His philosophy was "one served not to save their soul, but to build a strong society." In our modern day society, volunteering still forms the core of the American character. It is who we are and how we pass caring and freedom to the next generation. And it looks like our younger generations are getting the message because they are now volunteering at the same rate as those who are retired. If our kids can convince their friends and neighbors through social media that to help others is in a sense helping ourselves, we can continue to be the most charitable nation, just like our forefathers.

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Unlike the 141 billionaires who have pledged to give away at least half of their wealth to charity through the "Giving Pledge," an effort started by philanthropists Warren Buffet and Bill and Melinda Gates, most of us don't have the big extra dollars to help out our favorite charities.

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- The United States has a long history of racism and so,e have said that it has been getting worse and worse as the years move forward
- Racism has been an issue in the United States and some ways that racism has been shown in society today are Youtube videos,  Instagram, Snapchat, etc.
- People take advantage of the fact that they are sitting behind a screen and feel like they can say whatever they want because they are not in public and that is the biggest problem the society is dealing with on the lines of racism right now

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Religiosity can make people feel part of a group, which make them feel like they are valued by that group. Being in a religious group helps people make relationships and gives them something to believe in.  Only 22.8 % of the US is religiously unaffiliated

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Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project

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Religion in America: U.S. Religious Data, Demographics and Statistics

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Explore the geographic distribution and demographics of America's major religious groups.

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Democracy in the US allows adult US citizens to vote for their representatives. It empowers people to want to get involved by allowing them to have a say in their leaders. 137.5 million (the most ever) voted in the 2016 election

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A record 137.5 million Americans voted in the 2016 presidential election, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Overall voter turnout - defined as the share of adult U.S. citizens who cast ballots - was 61.4% in 2016, a share similar to 2012 but below the 63.6% who say they voted in 2008.

A number of long-standing trends in presidential elections either reversed or stalled in 2016, as black voter turnout decreased, white turnout increased and the nonwhite share of the U.S. electorate remained flat since the 2012 election. Here are some key takeaways from the Census Bureau's report, the data source with the most comprehensive demographic and statistical portrait of U.S. voters.

1 The black voter turnout rate declined for the first time in 20 years in a presidential election, falling to 59.6% in 2016 after reaching a record-high 66.6% in 2012. The 7-percentage-point decline from the previous presidential election is the largest on record for blacks. (It's also the largest percentage-point decline among any racial or ethnic group since white voter turnout dropped from 70.2% in 1992 to 60.7% in 1996.) The number of black voters also declined, falling by about 765,000 to 16.4 million in 2016, representing a sharp reversal from 2012. With Barack Obama on the ballot that year, the black voter turnout rate surpassed that of whites for the first time. Among whites, the 65.3% turnout rate in 2016 represented a slight increase from 64.1% in 2012.

2 The Latino voter turnout rate held steady at 47.6% in 2016, compared with 48.0% in 2012. Overall turnout remained flat despite expectations heading into Election Day of a long-awaited, historic surge in Latino voters. Due largely to demographic growth, the number of Latino voters grew to a record 12.7 million in 2016, up from 11.2 million in 2012. Even so, the number of Latino nonvoters - those eligible to vote who do not cast a ballot, or 14 million in 2016 - was larger than the number of Latino voters, a trend that extends back to each presidential election since 1996. Meanwhile, the Asian voter turnout rate increased to 49.3% in 2016, up from 46.9% in 2012 and surpassing Hispanics for the first time since 1996. Asians continue to represent a smaller share of voters than Hispanics: Overall, about 5 million Asians voted in 2016, up from 3.8 million in 2012.

3 The number of naturalized-citizen voters reached 10.8 million in 2016, up from 9.3 million in 2012. In a year when immigration played a central role in the presidential campaign, turnout among naturalized-citizen voters (those who were immigrants born in another country who have naturalized to become U.S. citizens) was 54.3%, up from 53.6% in 2012. Overall, the voter turnout rate among foreign-born citizens trailed that of U.S.-born voters, who had a 62.1% turnout rate in 2016. But among Asians and Hispanics - the nation's two largest immigrant groups - the pattern was reversed. In 2016, turnout among Asian naturalized citizens was 51.9%, compared with 44.9% for U.S.-born Asians. Among Hispanics, naturalized-citizen turnout was 53.4%, higher than the 45.5% turnout for U.S.-born Hispanics.

4 Blacks, Hispanics, Asians and other racial or ethnic minorities accounted for 26.7% of voters in 2016, a share unchanged from 2012. Leading up to the election, the overall eligible voting population was the most racially and ethnically diverse ever. However, whites made up 73.3% of voters in 2016, a share unchanged from 2012, when they accounted for 73.7%. Meanwhile, blacks made up 11.9% of voters in 2016, down from 12.9% in 2012 - the first time since 2004 that blacks have declined as a share of voters. Hispanics have accounted for a growing share of the electorate for decades, and this trend continued in 2016, when they made up 9.2% of voters, up from 8.4% in 2012. Asians made up 3.6% of all voters in 2016, up from 2.8% in 2012

5 The voter turnout rate increased among Millennials and those in Generation X. Millennials (those ages 18 to 35 in 2016) had a 49.4% voter turnout rate in 2016, up from 46.4% in 2012 when they were ages 18 to 31. Their turnout rate increased across racial and ethnic groups, with the exception of black millennials, 49.4% of whom turned out in 2016, compared with 55.0% in 2012. This increase in the millennial voter turnout rate is not only because the generation has grown older (older voters vote at higher rates than younger voters), but also due to a higher turnout rate among its youngest members: 43.0% of 18 to 24 year olds voted in 2016, up from 41.2%, in 2012. Generation X (those ages 36 to 51 in 2016) turnout was 62.6%, up from 61.0% in 2012. By contrast, the voter turnout rate among older generations was flat. Turnout for Baby Boomers (those ages 52 to 70) was 68.7% in 2016, compared with 68.9% in 2012, while among the Silent and Greatest generations (those ages 71 and older), it was 70.1% in 2016, compared with 71.8% in 2012.

6 The voter turnout rate among women was 63.3% in 2016, mostly unchanged from 63.7% in 2012. The rate increased among white women, to 66.8% in 2016 from 65.6% in 2012. But it decreased among black women (64.1% in 2016 versus 70.7% in 2012). Among Hispanic women, the turnout rate stayed flat: 50% in 2016, compared with 49.8% in 2012. Meanwhile, among men, the voter turnout rate stayed flat (59.3% in 2016 versus 59.7% in 2012), trailing the rate among women.
Correction: An earlier version of this post gave incorrect figures for voter turnout by generation in 2012. The text and its corresponding chart, "Millennial and Generation X voter turnout increased in 2016," have been updated. Related posts: U.S. trails most developed countries in voter turnout Millennials and Gen Xers outvoted Boomers and older generations in 2016 election
Topics: Hispanic/Latino Vote, Voter Demographics, Voter Participation, Elections and Campaigns, Asian Americans, 2016 Election

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Black voter turnout fell in 2016, even as a record number of Americans cast ballots

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A record 137.5 million Americans voted in the 2016 presidential election, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Overall voter turnout - defined as the share of adult U.S. citizens who cast ballots - was 61.4% in 2016, a share similar to 2012 but below the 63.6% who say they voted in 2008.

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- The American society has become vulnerable to becoming materialistic with brands such as Canada Goose and Moncler taking over the clothing industry for wealthier people in society
- As people become more and more influenced by other that buying these things will help them look better in society, people forget that there are others in the world that can hardly even afford more than 2 pairs of clothes to wear
- There are lots of people who are loaded with money in society and don't know what to do with it so they would rather buy something they don't need at all over donating some of it to a charity for people in need