Guest Post: Lifestyle Diseases

Lifestyle Diseases: History

The term "lifestyle disease" is a fairly new development within our lifetime on the planet.  In just the past several decades or so diseases that are caused primarily by our modern lifestyle have become serious threats to much of society's wellbeing.  

Diseases like obesity, heart disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and certain types of cancer are all results of lifestyle behaviours that many affluent cultures uphold such as smoking, unhealthy diet, and inactivity. Of course some of these diseases can be caused by other factors, but, for the most part their primary causes have to do with the way in which we live our lives and the poor lifestyle choices we make.

These diseases are major threats to the health and overall posterity of our global society. It is essential that the general public become better educated in lifestyle diseases and their causes as well as preventative measures that every individual can take to better insure their own personal wellbeing.

Statistics and Figures

In 2009, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention released their annual statistics for the leading causes of death throughout the United States.  For the first time in history, the 2009 report indicated that lifestyle diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers kill more people than communicable ones. This is a startling and telling data point to examine.

For years, significant attention was put on communicable disease prevention and education throughout the U.S. and world. We can look at these newer statistics from 2009 as an indication that our preventative programs for communicable diseases are working or we can see it as an indicator that our lifestyles have become distinctively more dangerous.

For the most part, both cases are likely true: communicable disease prevention and education has been a success and our modern lifestyle choices are catching up with us alarmingly fast.

One thing that can be seen as an upside to this newer data is that, if the programs put forth for communicable diseases worked, then similar programs geared towards lifestyle diseases may be equally effective. In England, studies show that just over one quarter of the adult population was classified as obese in 2010. This means that 26 percent of men and women ages 16 and over are severely overweight and at risk for heart disease and many other threatening health problems.

Children And Obesity

Even more upsetting, the 2010 study also found that three in every 10 boys and girls ages two to 15 are either overweight or obese. These statistics are due to poor diet and an inactive lifestyle.  The same statistics compiled a year earlier, show that these disturbing percentages concerning obesity in the United Kingdom are increasing at an alarming rate. In 2009, 22 percent of men and 24 percent of women ages 16 and older were classified as obese in England.  This number went up to 26 percent for both genders in just one short year. An unhealthy lifestyle is a global problem.

According to the World Health Organization's Epidemiology and Burden of Disease department heart disease is the number one cause of death throughout the entire world. What many do not know is that the primary risk factor for heart disease in a person is obesity. For the most part, it is our lifestyle that that can cause the obesity that leads to dangerous health threats like heart disease and diabetes. A report done by the American Heart Association suggests that just over 40 percent of the U.S. population will have some form of cardiovascular disease by the year 2030.

The direct medical costs for the care of hypertension, coronary heart disease, heart failure, and other cardiovascular diseases is projected to triple by 2030 to $818 billion. This is staggering and preventable.

Lifestyle Disease Prevention

Because these diseases are primarily caused by lifestyle choices that we make throughout he day, they are absolutely preventable. Many of these deadly health issues are merely a cause of a poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle. Eating healthy and appropriate meals and exercising regularly can fix any fear of obesity or type two diabetes.

Following a regular exercise routine like the ones that are discussed here on The Fitness Explorer and eating healthy can make all the difference. The term "lifestyle disease" in and of itself should worry and upset us. If it is a disease occurring because of our lifestyle, then it is something that we can control. Take care of your body and work to educate yourself and your loved ones on healthy and happy lifestyle approaches.

Guest Author:
 

This guest post is contributed by Lauren Bailey, who regularly writes for accredited online colleges. She welcomes your comments on this post below.  Her twitter ID is twitter.com/baillauren

>> Read some other interesting facts about obesity here:

Motivation: Be SMARTER in 2012

Here is an update to an article I posted last year about goal-setting.  

This time of year many of us choose to create a list of resolutions we wish to keep for the short, medium or long-term.  One key to success for any of this is to use a formalised method to get there.

We often choose goals that are quite vague such as 'I want to lose weight' or 'I will get healthier'.  As I mentioned in a recent post 88% of New Year's resolutions fail so any help we can get making positive changes to our lifestyle is useful.  What does getting healthier mean?  How do we know if we are successful or at least going in the right direction?

Well making yourself accountable is one key to success.  One method that can help is the use of SMART goals.  This is not restricted to the start of a year, but useful at any time and for any project.  It's a tool useful in managing business change and there are no reasons why we can't apply it to lifestyle change.

SMART is an acronym for making goals - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timed.

Specific - specify exactly what you want from your goal, be precise here.  Think about what you really want down to the last full-stop.

Measurable - can you measure and track its success?  It is useful to provide a feedback mechanism that will monitor progress.

Achievable - set an objective you can realistically attain, use whatever resources to ascertain what this realistic level should be.

Relevant- is this a suitable goal for YOU and you alone?  Is it realistic?

Timed - set a time frame for this goal.  Set regular intervals to record and check progress before the start and finish.

Here's a couple of SMART goal examples:

“I will lose 7lbs of body fat, decrease my waist size by 2 inches and improve my body fat percentage from 18% to 13% by 31st March”

"I will increase my deadlift from 1.5 to twice my bodyweight by the end of 2012"

Other ways to increase success: 

• make your goals public and enlist the help of friends and family to encourage and provide support;
• set yourself small, measurable sub-tasks (think baby steps rather than huge strides) so it is easier to accomplish;
• write your goals down, create a checklist and mark these off on completion; 
• think about several reasons for making this change and focus on these when you lack motivation;
• once you have set your goal, recognise this isn't enough, nothing can be accomplished without taking action!

 --Darryl