Notice to Readers: Arthritis Awareness Month --- May 2009

May is Arthritis Awareness Month, an observance intended to focus attention on the large and growing problem of arthritis in the United States. Arthritis, which in 2005 affected 46 million (one in five) U.S. adults and nearly 300,000 children, is projected to affect 67 million adults by 2030 (1) and remains the most common cause of disability in the United States (2).

The emphasis of this year's observance is on the benefits of physical activity for persons with arthritis. For adults with arthritis, physical activity can reduce pain, improve function, reduce the risk for disability, and lower the risk for heart disease or type 2 diabetes. Any physical activity is better than none, but the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (available at http://www.health.gov/paguidelines) suggest that low impact, moderate-intensity aerobic activity totaling 150 minutes a week and muscle strengthening exercise at least 2 days a week generally are safe, beneficial, and achievable for persons with chronic conditions such as arthritis.

Information about physical activity and self-management education programs for adults with arthritis is available from CDC at http://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/intervention/index.htm. Additional information about Arthritis Awareness Month activities is available from the Arthritis Foundation online (http://www.arthritis.org) or by telephone (800-283-7800). Tips, podcasts, and online tools to help persons with arthritis achieve better overall health by being physically active are available at http://www.letsmovetogether.org.

References

1. Hootman JM, Helmick CG. Projections of US prevalence of arthritis and associated activity limitations. Arthritis Rheum 2006;54:226--9.
2. CDC. Prevalence and most common causes of disability among adults, United States, 2005. MMWR 2009;58:421--6.

Use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. References to non-CDC sites on the Internet are provided as a service to MMWR readers and do not constitute or imply endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. CDC is not responsible for the content of pages found at these sites. URL addresses listed in MMWR were current as of the date of publication.

All MMWR HTML versions of articles are electronic conversions from typeset documents. This conversion might result in character translation or format errors in the HTML version. Users are referred to the electronic PDF version (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr) and/or the original MMWR paper copy for printable versions of official text, figures, and tables. An original paper copy of this issue can be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), Washington, DC 20402-9371; telephone: (202) 512-1800. Contact GPO for current prices.

**Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be addressed to [email protected].

Date last reviewed: 4/30/2009