This New Year’s Resolution:
A Healthy Heart
Posted January 1st, 2007 at 11:00 AM by Megan Hueter
Section: Health & Fitness, Exercise, Weight Loss
Eat too much this holiday season? You’re most likely not alone. However, eating too much on a daily basis takes a toll on your body, especially your heart. Make this New Year’s resolution a healthy one for you and your family.
You can start by checking out some different online opportunities, including the Discovery Health Channel’s National Body Challenge, and the American Heart Association’s Choose to Move program.
Programs such as these have been established due to chronic public health problems in the United States associated with poor diet and lack of physical activity. Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death for all people in the United States, currently affecting nearly 12 million people.
Heart disease is the number one killer of American women. The major risk factors for CHD are high blood pressure and high cholesterol, both of which can be elevated through bad eating habits which are unfortunately commonly adopted during the holidays.
About 50 million adults in the United States have high blood pressure and cholesterol which require medical advice and treatment. More than 90 million adults have cholesterol levels that are higher than desirable. High cholesterol and blood pressure are major risk factors for CHD, stroke, and heart failure. Overweight and obesity are significantly associated with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, arthritis, and poor health status. Overweight and obesity affect about 55 percent of adults, and these rates have increased by about 50% since the 1970’s. There are many factors which reflect the contributions of obesity. These include inherited, metabolic, behavioral, environmental, cultural, and socioeconomic components. As weight increases, so does the prevalence of health risks. A conscientious effort must be made by the public to avoid these associated health problems.
The Discovery Health Channel’s National Body Challenge is a free eight-week comprehensive fitness and weight-loss challenge. It provides the tools and inspiration both online and on television to get in shape, shed extra pounds and adopt a healthier lifestyle. The program even provides some “Surviving the Holidays” eating tips, which can be quite useful to a person of any fitness level.
Open to individuals, groups and families, the National Body Challenge offers the flexibility for participants to make the right choices to meet their personal nutrition and fitness goals. This challenge includes an 8-week membership to Bally Total Fitness®, a customized online meal plan with over 1,000 great recipes, expert weight loss, fitness and healthy lifestyle information, and more. Set the date: Friday, December 29, 2006. Registration for the National Body Challenge begins. Visit the Discovery Health Channel’s National Body Challenge for more information.
Another helpful program to shed the extra holiday weight is the American Health Association’s Choose to Move program. This is a 12-week physical activity program for women. The program shows women how to Choose To Move by being physically active, eating healthfully, loving their body, and selecting nutritious foods and taking time for themselves.
Choose To Move shows women practical ways to increase their physical activity and reduce their risk for heart disease and stroke. The focus is on helping women build more physical activity into their existing routine, not creating new routines that are hard to fit into the day. Click Choose To Move for more information about this program.
Research sources and for more information: [American Heart Association], [Discovery Health Channel], and:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy People 2010. 2nd ed. With Understanding and Improving Health and Objectives for Improving Health. 2 vols. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, November 2000.
***Note: We encourage EVERYONE to see a doctor before altering their diet, taking a supplement and/or performing athletic, fitness or other strenuous physical activity. It is your responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, completeness and usefulness of any information, instruction, opinion or advice contained in the content. Please also see our complete disclaimer.***
Tags: american heart association, arthritis, asthma, blood pressure, CHD, cholesterol, choose to move, coronary heart disease, diabetes, discovery health channel, eating, fitness, food, get in shape, health, healthy heart, heart failure, lose weight, national body challenge, new years, new years resolution, nutrition, obesity, overweight, resolution, stroke, weight loss
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