By Miriam E. Nelson, Ph. D.

Most people know how harmful smoking is to health. Many public places have banned smoking—not just to discourage smokers, but also to protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke. Unfortunately, just as we begin to make headway reducing smoking rates, obesity rates are climbing to epidemic heights. Poor diet and physical inactivity are poised to surpass tobacco and become the leading preventable cause of death in America.

Poor Health Habits Lead to Premature Death

These poor health habits increase risk for chronic diseases including heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, which can all lead to premature death.  A recent study¹ released by The United States Health and Human Services (HHS) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that deaths due to poor diet and physical inactivity rose by 33 percent over the past decade. As caregivers, we often neglect our own health, but there are simple ways to stay healthier.

You can Make a Difference by Exercising More and Eating Healthier

You can start with smaller steps. Reduce sedentary activity in your home and workplace and encourage others to join you -- for a walk, an exercise class, or just by taking the stairs rather than the elevator.  Use an exercise machine or simply stretch out on the floor while watching television instead of lounging on the couch. When you shop, choose whole, non-processed foods. Prepare your meals following the new government guidelines at www.mypyramid.gov.

When you eat out, you can ask for whole wheat bread, brown rice, and twice the vegetables with half the starch. If enough of us start asking for wholesome foods at restaurants, they will start serving them!  

Benefits of Regular Meals

Sometimes we assume that skipping meals is a good strategy for controlling body weight. The logic says if you cut a meal, you’ll cut calories. A study from the University of Nottingham in England shows the opposite. ²

Lean women and overweight women were asked to follow either a regular or irregular meal schedule for 14 days (including skipping breakfast). The women were then asked to follow the opposite meal schedule for two more weeks. When women (both overweight and lean) ate regular meals their total calorie intake per day was less than when they were eating irregular meals. Furthermore, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and glucose control were better when eating regular meals.

Skipping breakfast and missing meals may actually contribute to weight gain and poor cardiovascular risk profile in women.  No matter how busy your life is, give yourself and your loved ones regular, healthy meals.

Weight and Age

Most women assume they will gain weight around the time of menopause. Results from a large study³ of midlife women shed new light on this issue. The study measured 3,064 ethnically diverse, non-menopausal women aged 42–52 years over three years. On average, women gained 4.5 pounds (or 3% of their body weight) and saw their waist circumference increase by about one inch. This result was not surprising.

What the investigators also saw was that going through menopause or becoming perimenopausal did not influence weight gain. This finding was interesting since most people believe that it is the change in hormonal status that kicks in the weight gain. The study also showed that women who maintained a high level of physical activity or became more physically active (regardless of when they started) did not gain weight. In fact, the women who became more physically active over the three years actually lost a little weight and reduced their waist size.

Again this study confirms that age matters less—it's what you do that counts!  Following the basics of a healthy lifestyle will have a positive effect for you and those in your care.

¹Reference: Mokdad AH, Marks JS, Stroup DF, Gerberding JL. Actual Causes of Death in the United States, 2000. Vol 291, No 10, JAMA March 10, 2004.

www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/fs040309.htm

²References: Hamid Farshchi and colleagues. Beneficial metabolic effects of regular meal frequency on dietary thermogenesis, insulin sensitivity, and fasting lipid profiles in health obese women. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 81(1), 16-24, January 2005. And: Regular meal frequency creates more appropriate insulin sensitivity and lipid profiles compared with irregular meal frequency in healthy lean women. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 58(7), 1071-1077, July 2004.

³Reference: Barbara Sternfeld and colleagues. Physical activity and changes in weight and waist circumference in midlife women: findings from the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation. American Journal of Epidemiology 2004; 106(9):912-922.