Who would’ve thought skipping exercise could kill us all?

I mean, sure, I hate when I am slacking on my fitness. I feel sluggish and just plain ol’ crappy about myself. I know for sure that exercise gives me a necessary boost—my favorite prescription “drug” out there.

But kill me? Really?!

This article is totally spot on for all intents and purposes. The information is valuable, and I understand the author is not suggesting a skipped sweat session here and there is going to cause me to keel over. But what bothers me is a general feeling I get from the article that stems no further than that headline.

Deadly. Death. Doom.

It worries me because, while the findings are backed by solid studies, I am beginning to wonder if these are the new lengths we must go to in order to fight for America’s health.

Scare tactics. Shocking people right out of their unhealthy habits.

As a writer, I am consistently reminding myself of the potential power of my words. For example, one little sentence that is seemingly a hoot to me could appear completely offensive to another person. What’s more, I very often write about health matters and, therefore, I take very seriously the knowledge I am putting out there for my readers.

So, I understand where the person who created this headline is coming from. An eye-catching headline is what makes an article readable—or in this case clickable—so you had better make it a good one.

But my issue is more with the fact that news sources are being forced to drum up frightening headlines to catch people’s attention. Like, saying we need to exercise for heart health just isn’t good enough anymore. Now, instead, we must tell you that you will die if you don’t get out there and get your blood moving.

That bothers me.

What’s wrong with us? I mean, we all do it. We so often wait until something is directly affecting us before we take notice. Cancer, heart disease, obesity—they are all just waiting to get their dirty little hands on us. And so often, we (of course, inadvertently) say, “Hey, OK, sure, I’ll hold hands with you... just please don’t give me your germs. Hear me asking oh-so-nicely? I am not going to change a single thing about my lifestyle, but I expect you, disease, to please take notice of my sweet, pleading tone."

That’s bogus.

So, here are my boogey man tactics: We need to get a grip, people. Let’s stop waiting for the bad stuff to get to us before we decide to get serious about health. It’s called prevention—and it has the future of our health written all over it.

Don’t make me say, “Boo!”

By then... it might be too late.

I want to know: What's your favorite health practice for warding off sickness and disease?

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Caroline Shannon has been a professional journalist for six years, working for several publications, including Redbook magazine, Ideal Bite, Entrepreneur.com, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and First30Days. She is a certified Pilates instructor and takes a long, hard run just as seriously as she does several Hint ‘O Mint Newman-O’s. She can be reached at www.carolineshannon.com.