May is Exercise is Medicine® Month, and people throughout the U.S. will be participating in physical activities to help prevent scores of chronic illnesses.

Physical inactivity is recognized as a fast-growing public health problem, and Exercise is Medicine heralds a critical call to actively promote exercise. As an initiative coordinated by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) since 2008—one concurrent with National Physical Fitness and Sports Month—the ACSM aims to make physical activity part of every single person’s health care plan, and in this way encourage a healthy lifestyle by acting on the proven findings of those researching health and fitness.

Calling on all men, women and children to have “a daily dose of exercise,” the ACSM urges everyone, including public officials in the health care industry, primary care physicians, and parents, to do their part. Parents in particular should be role models who establish good exercise habits in the family. The organization is also encouraging individuals to take stock of their health status and find out what kind of exercise they can do to improve their health.

Want to learn more? Exercise is Medicine has an online toolkit with resources for anyone who responds to the ACSM call to action, including a fact sheet, sample social media messages, and sample letters that can be sent to online and print publications. The overall message is that exercise is a powerful medicine.