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Few in U.S. Living Healthy Lifestyles
Only 3 percent of adults really doing the right things, study finds
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
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MONDAY, April 25 (HealthDay News) -- Even though everybody seems to know what a healthy lifestyle is, very few actually live it, a new study contends.
Those who don't smoke, eat five servings of fruits and vegetables daily, exercise regularly and maintain a normal weight account for only 3 percent of the adult population in the United States, according to the report in the April 25 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
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"We looked at national representative data for 2000," said study co-author Mathew J. Reeves, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Michigan State University. "We wanted to see the proportion of adults that met the definition for a healthy lifestyle."
In their study, Reeves and his colleague Ann P. Rafferty, from the Michigan Department of Community Health, collected data on 153,805 adults from all over the country. The data came from the 2000 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which is an annual survey of the nation's health.
Reeves and Rafferty found that 76 percent of the people surveyed were nonsmokers, 40.1 percent maintained a healthy weight, 23.3 percent said they ate at least five fruits and vegetables daily, and only 22.2 percent said they exercised at least five times a week.
"When we look at the combination of all four factors, we found that only 3 percent of adults meet our criteria of a healthy lifestyle," Reeves said. "This data shows the extraordinarily low level of adults living a healthy lifestyle."
Reeves pointed out that there is substantial data showing the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle. "Those who live a healthy lifestyle live longer and have reduced disease risks, including risk for heart disease, cancer and diabetes. They have reduced medical expenditures and a better quality of life," he said.
The message is not new. "If you want to say, 'How can I best maximize my quality of life, my longevity, reduce my disease risk and reduce medical expenses?'-- you would lead this sort of healthy lifestyle," Reeves said. "Don't smoke, don't be overweight, exercise regularly and eat right -- it's exactly what your grandmother has been telling you for 50 years."
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Copyright © 2005 ScoutNews LLC. All rights reserved.
Last updated 4/25/2005
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SOURCES: Mathew J. Reeves, Ph.D., assistant professor, epidemiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.; Samantha Heller, M.S., R.D., senior clinical nutritionist, New York University Medical Center, New York City; David L. Katz, M.D., M.P.H., associate clinical professor, public health, and director, Prevention Research Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn.; April 25, 2005, Archives of Internal Medicine
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