ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Tuesday, September 10, 1996            TAG: 9609100035
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1    EDITION: METRO 
COLUMN: health notes
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY

IT'S THE RAGE IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL.

Roanoke Valley residents danced it to celebrate Roanoke's All-America City status.

It has bumped ahead of the Electric Slide as the world's hottest dance craze.

Now physical therapists say the Macarena is good for all of us.

For the "mah-cah-rayna" disadvantaged, this is a no-talent dance done to the Latino-beat song, "Macarena."

What's so good about this dance is that it's easy to learn and anybody can do it. It can be done in groups or alone, and it's not strenuous, says Sean Gallagher, director of Performing Arts Physical Therapy in New York City. Gallagher is a spokesman for the American Physical Therapy Association, which has decided to use the popularity of this dance to promote physical fitness.

The Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health concluded that even 30 minutes a day of moderate physical activity can help prevent health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, colon cancer and obesity.

Moderate includes things like walking the dog or gardening. Or, doing the Macarena.

Since the song lasts only a few minutes, you'll have to listen to it over and over to get in the full 30 minutes of movement from the accompanying dance. That could be a problem. Some deejay recently played the song all day, and it's said that listeners thought he was dead, or wished he was.

If you want to give the Macarena a chance to help you get fit, consult the graphic with this column for directions.

The brain and values

How brain mechanisms work in encoding human values will be the focus of the Fifth Appalachian Conference on Behavior Neurodynamics to be held Oct. 18-20 at Radford University.

The gathering is sponsored by Radford's Center for Brain Research and Informational Sciences (BRAINS).

Robert Sternberg, a Yale University psychology professor, will be the keynote speaker. He is the author of "Beyond IQ, The Triangle of Love, Metaphors of Mind," and co-author of "Defying the Crowd: Cultivating Creativity in a Culture of Conformity."

Some scientists believe that values cannot be studied scientifically, but Karl Pribram, director of BRAINS, disagrees.

Persons interested in this conference can get registration information from BRAINS, Box 6977, Radford University, Radford 24142, or through e-mail to jsking@runet.edu

Children's eyes

Back-to-school time always brings up this question: Just how good are your child's eyes? While the experts will be watching for signs of vision problems, parents and teachers also can spot them by watching for the following clues while a child is reading:

Squinting, rubbing eyes or closing one eye;

Turning or tilting the head to one side;

Headaches, nausea, dizziness and/or excessive clumsiness;

Placing the head close to a book while reading or continually losing place while reading;

Short attention span or dislike and/or avoidance of up-close work;

Daydreaming.

To order a free "ABC's of Eyecare" brochure for parents or guides for teachers, write to The Better Vision Institute, P.O. Box 77097, Washington, D.C. 20013, or call, (800) 424-8422.

You can contact Sandra Brown Kelly at (800) 346-1234, ext. 393, or at 981-3393 or through e-mail to biznew@roanoke.infi.net.

LENGTH: Medium:   80 lines
ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC:  Chart by American Physical Therapy Association. color.