We all have them:
Those less-than-healthy or downright dangerous habits that can
subtract years from our lives. Most of these harmful
tendencies--like smoking and eating poorly--are well-known thanks
to the constant finger-wagging of physicians and public-health
officials. Others, like taking chances with safety and skipping
immunizations, are less obvious.
While circumstance, low
motivation or even lack of support can derail our best attempts at
being healthy, there is hope: According to a recent study published
in the American Journal of Medicine, a sizable percentage
of people can successfully adopt a range of healthy activities or
habits in middle age.
In Depth: Unhealthy Habits You Need To
Ditch
The study looked at 15,708 adults between the ages of 45 and 64.
More than 8% of the participants began eating at least five fruits
and vegetables daily, exercised a minimum of 2.5 hours per week,
maintained healthy weights and refrained from smoking.
Dr. Dana E. King, a
co-author of the study and vice chair in the department of family
medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina, considers
these four habits to be the pillars of good health. And the study
proved as much: Those who changed their lifestyles experienced
lower total mortality and fewer cardiovascular disease events.
"These changes are not
easy to make and our environment is not encouraging," King
says. "But making them is very beneficial."
The Cost of Bad
Habits
Smoking and excessive weight
gain are particularly pernicious since they've been linked to a
range of bad health outcomes, including cancer and heart disease.
They're also expensive habits when it comes to the cost
of health care. Expenditures related
to smoking reach as much as $96 billion annually. Obesity is
estimated to cost $90 billion, and it may get pricier. A report
published this month by the Trust for America's Health and the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that adult obesity rates had
increased in 23 states from 2006 and 2008.
While smoking and
obesity are prime targets for public-health officials, patients can
improve their health in other ways. Mary Jean Schumann, a
registered nurse and chief programs officer for the American Nurses
Association, says that routine immunizations are cost-effective and
promote excellent health. More than 20 diseases can be prevented by
vaccines, including Hepatitis B, diphtheria, mumps and
influenza.
Yet survey results
published last year by the National Foundation for Infectious
Diseases, a non-profit organization, found that few Americans know
which vaccines are recommended for adults--and more than half are
unconcerned about contracting a vaccine-preventable disease.
Simple high-risk behaviors,
like not wearing a helmet while riding a bike or not buckling up
while driving or riding in a car, are other, less-scrutinized bad
habits.
"People don't look
at those as health behaviors, but they are," says Schumann,
who has treated countless patients in the emergency room with
injuries from accidents that could have been prevented.
Changing
Behaviors
Even though common sense says unhealthy
choices result in poor outcomes, people tend to have difficulty
connecting the two. And even when they do, it can be a long-term
struggle to end the pattern.
"[People] have good intentions but can't seem
to pull off the changes," says Suzanne Havala Hobbs, a
clinical associate professor of health policy and management and
nutrition at the University of North Carolina's Gillings School
of Global Public Health.
She attributes that dynamic
to a combination of factors: suburban and urban infrastructures
that don't promote physical activity; a sense of fatalism that
sets in when people tire of fighting what can seem like a losing
battle; and a lack of support from friends and family.
While individuals have no
power over city planning, they can tackle the other two issues.
Waning motivation to lose weight, for instance, can be remedied by
doing enjoyable physical activities instead of committing to a
rigid and joyless routine at the gym. Enlisting the support of
loved ones is another essential strategy since it can turn smoking
cessation or healthier eating into a family affair as opposed to an
individual struggle
Despite these tactics, some
people face greater health-improvement challenges than others. In
Dr. King's study, those who were at risk for chronic conditions
were no more likely to make changes.
"We have to find out what the
real motivators are for people," he says, mostly because
improved health is within the reach of most. "Turning back the
clock can be done."
In Depth: Unhealthy Habits You Need
To Ditch
More From Forbes.com:
Seven Common Body Language
Mistakes
10 Meals You Should
Memorize
The World’s Diet Secrets
Unhealthy Habits You Need To Ditch
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