The Dietitian is in and is Talking
About Health!

So much of our time and money is spent on taking care of others, work, social activities, entertainment, and healthcare. But, when it comes to making it an absolute priority to feed ourselves and our families healthy food and to exercise regularly, we as a society fail miserably. In our culture, we are chronically over-extended, fast food is cheap and plentiful, and the better choices that require more time are squeezed out.

Additionally, disease does not appear on the first day after we eat an unhealthy meal or neglect to exercise. It takes months or even years of neglect and then we are faced with serious consequences for the slights of our past. We are seeing more and more chronic diseases occurring at earlier ages, with no end in sight.

Here are some disturbing statistics about children.

• Cancer kills more children than any other disease.
• By age 13, 70% of children have developed the beginning stages of hardening of the arteries.
• Obesity has doubled in the last 20 years.
• Nearly 50% of overweight adolescents remain overweight as adults.
• In the last 20 years, type II diabetes has increased 10-fold.
• Over 8 million children have asthma, up 222% in the last 40 years.
• Less than 7% of children and adolescents consume the minimum 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day.

The statistics for adults are not any better.

• 1500 of us die from cancer every day.
• 1 in 8 American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 1 in 2 will die from it.
• 1.1 million Americans have a heart attack every year.
• 500,000 heart attack victims in America die each year.
• 74% of adults are overweight or obese.
• Diabetes will increase by 165% over the next 50 years, with 29 million Americans diagnosed.
• 33 million Americans suffer from arthritis.

Good health happens largely by intention. However, balancing the needs of our body with the incredible demands of our schedule means that well-balanced meals usually suffer and time for exercise is often deleted by other priorities. We need to educate ourselves and our family members about what is healthy and what among our cultural norms is not, and choose accordingly.

According to the U.S. Dietary Guidelines, children need 5 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, and adults require 7 to 13 servings. This is more practically achieved through the addition of a concentrated fruit and vegetable supplement which can provide a measure of dietary insurance for the realities of daily nutritional challenges.

I will be happy to assist you in:

• making healthy choices
• achieving your ideal weight
• improving your overall health

For more information, call Verna at 352-514-1305