Community Health Heart Healthy Tips Five Healthy Behaviors - November 2008
Five Healthy Behaviors - November 2008
Did you know…Five healthy behaviors can help you live longer?
Quick – can you name them? And the more of these you do, the more significantly you reduce your risk of cancer and heart disease.
The five healthiest behaviors are: 1. don’t smoke 2. maintain a healthy weight 3. be physically active 4. eat a healthy diet 5. have a moderate intake of alcohol
Women in the Nurses Health Study who incorporated four out of five behaviors lowered their overall risk of premature death by 55 percent. This study followed 77,782 women over 24 years. Obese women were three times more likely to die of heart disease than women with a normal weight. Women who exercised at least five hours per week had 50% less heart disease than women who were more sedentary. People who had four of the unhealthy behaviors (smoked cigarettes, were overweight, sedentary, and a low healthy-diet score) raised their chance of having heart disease sevenfold, and more than doubled their risk of cancer.
Drinking a light amount of alcohol lowered heart disease risk (1 drink per day for women, up to 2 drinks per day for men) but heavy alcohol use increased cancer risk.
A healthy weight is a “BMI” (body mass index) of 18.5-24.9. To find your BMI, go to this website.
Combining the healthy lifestyle behaviors has a substantially greater impact than any single behavior. Even modest lifestyle changes such as 30 minutes of moderate physical activity can have a large impact on avoiding premature death.
What Does CPC recommend?
It’s essential to understand that you can take control of your health. The most important factors that influenced health in this study were smoking and obesity. By exercising regularly, eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, and avoiding tobacco products you can substantially improve your health. Why is good health important to you?
The research cited above was published in: British Medical Journal, Sept. 18, 2008. Combined impact of lifestyle factors on mortality: prospective cohort study in US women. Van Dam RM et al.