If you follow me on Twitter or read my personal blog, you probably know by now that I bought myself an iPad this week. The main reason I got it is because I’m a sucker for shiny new technology, but I also wanted to see if I could use it to help myself become a little less sedentary.
As I mentioned in my first twoposts about fitness this month, there’s a growing body of research suggesting that a sedentary lifestyle is harmful to your health. I was interviewed about one such study a few months ago on the PRI show “The Takeaway,” and the evidence is fairly convincing: People who spend more hours watching TV also have a higher mortality rate than those who watch it less, even after accounting for exercise. Granted, it’s only a correlation, but the evidence converges quite well with several other studies.
But what am I supposed to do about it? My job requires me to spend long hours in front of a computer screen. If exercising a 30 or 40 minutes a day can’t prevent me from getting heart disease or cancer, what will? Some researchers, including David Dunstan, the lead researcher on the TV-watching study, suggest that just standing periodically, rather than sitting all day, can help a lot. That’s where the iPad comes in. Read more »
I consider myself a relatively fit person. Of course, “relatively” is still relative. I try to watch what I eat. I usually exercise five days a week. Heck, I’ve even run a couple half-marathons. But the rest of my days are pretty much sedentary. I sit in a climate-controlled office staring at my computer screen. I make dinner in my highly-automated kitchen. After dinner I sit in the living room sipping wine and watching TV or talking to Greta. Then I go to bed and start the process over again.
That’s not a whole lot of activity for a creature that evolved for endurance. Over a 50 mile course, a race between a man and a horse can be quite competitive. Millions of people all over the world do hard manual labor day in and day out. But millions of others don’t set aside any time for exercise. In my half-marathons, I’ve finished in the top half of competitors, so compared to a lot of people, I must be doing something right. Right? Or do my sedentary days outweigh my occasional bursts of activity? I exercise an average of 4 hours per week. That’s less than 4 percent of my total waking time. Is that really enough to stay fit? Read more »
Research from the University of Michigan suggests that say one in three middle school youth who regularly eat school lunches are obese or overweight. They are also more likely to have higher cholesterol levels than kids who bring lunches from home.
The study included 1,076 middle school students who completed questionnaires about what they ate and how much physical activity they got as well as how many screen hours they logged each day.
Compared with kids who ate school lunches, kids who brought lunches from home were:
– Less likely to be overweight or obese (25% vs 38%)
– Less likely to eat two or more servings of fatty meats like fried chicken or hot dogs daily (2% vs. 6%)
– Less likely to drink two or more sugary drinks a day (7% vs. 19%)
– More likely to eat at least two servings a day of fruit (49% vs. 33%)
– More likely to eat at least two servings a day of vegetables (50% vs. 40%)
– Had lower levels of LDL (the bad cholesterol) Read more »
Nielson Wire yesterday posted a summary of a Scarborough Research study that may surprise you. According to the study, teens actually know what “being healthy” means. As reported by Nielson Wire, “92 percent percent of teens aged 13-17 say that health and a healthy lifestyle are important and when asked to give themselves a “health report card,” 76 percent of teens gave a grade of B- or higher.”
Also of interest in the report is where teens get their health information. As opposed to using social networking, as we’d expect them to do given how important a role it plays in their lives, teens turn to parents first and then true internet searches second.
(source: Nielson Wire as seen in Scarborough Research report)
I don’t doubt that on some level our teens know they need to live a healthier lifestyle and desire to do so. But, all we have to do is look around any of our towns to know the majority of our teens are not living they healthy life…not yet. So, why the discrepancy? What needs to happen to help teens live the healthy life they desire?
The discrepancy may have a few root causes:
1. Unhealthy families: many of these kids have parents with weight issues…the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree so they may not be getting the encouragement to “live healthy”.
2. Lack of time for true exercise – while many teens are in sports, sports participation isn’t the same as true exercise and many kids don’t burn the calories many parents think they are burning.
3. Not knowing how to be more healthy.
4. The hurried child syndrome where childhood has become so busy there isn’t time for proper meals.
5. Not understanding their own bodies unique nutritional needs. The needs of a growing teen are different than they were when they were younger kids, especially as growth slows down. Our teens need help learning to eat more like adults and to eat in moderation and with the concept of “balance”. This will only happen if we lead by example and also have open conversations with them about food. This will also only happen if we serve food they enjoy eating!
How can we help our teens live the healthy life they desire?
1. Talk to your teen and really listen! Find out how your teen wants to eat and exercise. A friendly world of warning…it may differ from your own views but if that is how your teen wants to be healthy, help your teen with that goal because the teen years are the start of the eating and exercise paths for life.
2. Lead by example. Look honestly at how you eat and exercise and do what you need to to be more healthy.
3. Slow down the pace of the family week so there is time for family dinner each and every day.
4. Get every one in the kitchen cooking. I’ll be writing a lot more on this as the year goes on but I can tell you that a family who cooks together, becomes more healthy together!
5. Have your teen help you with the weekly family menu planning.
6. Consider a gym if you can afford it…teens love working with trainers and joining classes. Most communities have programs that are very affordable as do the local YMCAs.
7. Don’t by the junk if your teen asks you not to…that’s like having cigarette packs on the table when someone is trying to quit smoking.
8. Keep healthy snacks around such as fruit, veggie sticks, granola bars.
9. Talk to your pediatrician and address any medical issues if there are any that may be interfering with becoming more active.
10. Be encouraging!
The teenage years are when our teens are supposed to spread their wings and amaze us. If good health is where their wings are trying to take them, then our job is to hop on that path and tackle any obstacle in their way.
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Gwenn Is In*
This is the funniest public service announcement I’ve seen in as long as I can remember. Congratulations to the creative communications team at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons for putting this together!
Back story: I met Sandra Gordon, Director of Public Relations, at the AMA Medical Communications Conference (where I was faculty) and where she presented this video. After the show I approached her to say how surprised many of us were that Orthopaedic Surgery was leading the way in creative PR – and that it was quite unexpected. The PSA had almost a hint of Monty Python humor to it.
She responded with out batting an eye: “Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition!”
How cool is Sandra?!
Latest Tweets from @DrVal
Could not authenticate you.
Better Health Audio
Featured Audio
Healthy VisionTM with Dr. Val: Safe Contact Lens Wear and Care
It’s no secret that doctors are disappointed with the way that the U.S. healthcare system is evolving. Most feel helpless about improving their work conditions or solving technical problems in patient care. Fortunately one young medical student was undeterred by the mountain of disappointment carried by his senior clinician mentors…
I am proud to be a part of the American Resident Project an initiative that promotes the writing of medical students residents and new physicians as they explore ideas for transforming American health care delivery. I recently had the opportunity to interview three of the writing fellows about how to…
I m often asked to do book reviews on my blog and I rarely agree to them. This is because it takes me a long time to read a book and then if I don t enjoy it I figure the author would rather me remain silent than publish my…
When I was in medical school I read Samuel Shem s House Of God as a right of passage. At the time I found it to be a cynical yet eerily accurate portrayal of the underbelly of academic medicine. I gained comfort from its gallows humor and it made me…
I am hesitant to review diet books because they are so often a tangled mess of fact and fiction. Teasing out their truth from falsehood is about as exhausting as delousing a long-haired elementary school student. However after being approached by the authors’ PR agency with the promise of a…
If you follow me on Twitter or read my personal blog, you probably know by now that I bought myself an iPad this week. The main reason I got it is because I’m a sucker for shiny new technology, but I also wanted to see if I could use it to help myself become a little less sedentary.
