An FDA panel of experts released its findings on the drug on June 13, saying it was unsafe and should not be sold in the U.S. The panel, made up of 14 doctors, voted unanimously, saying the drug has been linked to an increase in suicidal thoughts among patients without a history of depression. The FDA tends to listen to its own panels, so don't expect to find that quick fix so soon, if ever, here in America.

When will we learn that health and wellness can't be found in a pill?

The federal government isn't waiting around to hear the answer to that question. It has now come to realize the urgent need for health promotion and disease prevention here in America. The alternative: healthcare costs that could someday cripple a nation whose baby-boomers are growing old and relying even more heavily on an overburdened health care system. In a concerted effort within many of its departments the federal government has launched a series of health and wellness initiatives in this past year with a focus on prevention, including HealthierUS Feds, HealthierUS Vets, and A Healthier US Starts Here, as well as announcing its new Physical Fitness Guidelines are to be released by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in 2008.

The importance of prevention has even made its way to Capitol Hill, where Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-Mich.) introduced a bill — the Wellness and Prevention Act of 2007 (H.R. 853) — earlier this year in an effort to create legislation that promotes preventive health care for Americans. The bill authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to pay up to a specified amount of the medical education loans incurred by any physician who receives board certification in preventive medicine from FY2008 to FY2012.

The National Park Service (NPS), which is featured in this issue, has joined in the mission to get people more active, and is doing its part to promote fitness and recreation through its vast park system and programs. The NPS Advisory Board Committee on Health and Recreation recently released a report, “Addressing the Role of National Parks to Promote and Provide Healthful Recreation,” which points to the increasing need to find more ways to promote physical activity in our nation's wonderful parks.

NPS has also identified a set of seven health and recreation pilot park intervention concept plans (one for each region), which “have been developed and should be implemented in tandem with the application of consistent performance indicators to determine and hopefully demonstrate the validity of the NPS to promote and provide opportunities for healthful recreational activities. Pilot park concepts will be developed using a 'logic model approach,' as advised by the Centers for Disease Control.”

Even if we do finally come up with an anti-obesity pill, one that has no side effects and is safe, one truth is absolute: There will never be a pill that beats good old-fashioned exercise and a healthy, active lifestyle.