Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, an avid mountain bike rider, says rigorous exercise is great for the mind and body.

Asked in a network broadcast interview about people who say they're too busy to exercise regularly, Bush said, "I don't buy that. I think you set priorities in life, and if exercise is one of your priorities, then you do it."

"I'm amazed at how young I feel," Bush, 60, told CBS's "The Early Show" in an interview broadcast Thursday.

The president, who regularly goes mountain biking, said "I wisely have convinced a bunch of youngsters here in the White House and Washington to ride with me."

He also said he was heartened by the advance of women's athletics in the United States. "I'm a big backer of Title IX," Bush said of the federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in federal funded education programs.

"I think the progress, though, has been startling from the day when there were hardly any women's team," said the president, once a part owner of the Texas Rangers of the American League.

He said a fitness culture "starts with families" and said "I exercise a lot because it's good for my mind and it's good for my soul."

"I also think we spend a lot of money in the education system. We ought to insist on better food," Bush said. "A lot of the dietary problems are what people eat.

"Our obesity problem is not just an exercise problem, but a bad diet."