ENID, Okla. Exercise, fruit and vegetables, lean meat and whole grains are all keys to fighting obesity.
There are a couple of different perspectives in the fight, said John Friedl, physical activity and nutrition manager for Oklahoma State Department of Health.
Theres the individual level, at which individuals should take in a balanced diet and be physically active up to the recommendations, he said.
But then theres also things outside of the kind of individual responsibility that go to how are citizens of the communities we live in, the state that we live in, how do we start to re-shape the environment to where it really promotes health and wellness, rather than promoting an unhealthy lifestyle to where we have to go out of our way to be healthy?Friedlsaid.We want people being physically active, but theres also the responsibility of communities of this state to give people a healthy environment so that its not as hard to be healthy.
Recommendations on eating and exercise can be found at shape yourfutureok.com. The website, maintained by OSDH, is in collaborationwith Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust. Its a clearinghouse of information with links to other places to be healthy, but its all vetted through physical activity and nutrition experts, he said.
Its kind of an easier way to make sure that what youre looking at is actually valid and not just pulled off the internet from anywhere,Friedlsaid.
Another source is the U.S. Department of Agriculture website.
Its all the things most of us have been taught all our life. The fruits and vegetables, the lean meat and good, whole grains is the foundation of really what we should be taking in,he said.
Children need age-appropriate physical activities,Friedlsaid.
Along with shapeyourfutureok.com, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website provides guidelines for children.
Obviously, if a younger child doesnt have the coordination to partake in an activity, they shouldnt be doing that physical activity,he said.
Children under age 18 need about an hour a day of moderate, vigorous physical activity.
Their heart should be going just a little bit faster, they should really be breathing just a little bit harder. Its not a casual walk. Adults need 30 minutes on most days of the week, with the combination of cardiovascular exercises like jogging, biking, swimming, but also some strength-training exercises. So it could be bodyweight exercises, it could be lifting some weights, but to really help build those muscles. Then you also want some flexibility training in there to do some light stretching to make sure your muscles dont get too tight. Children need all three types of those as well, but at an age appropriate level, he said.
If the weight status of an individual is so high they really need to lose some weight, and burn more calories and adjust intake, it has to be a balanced, slow approach,Friedl said.
Not the, How rapidly can we lose this? Thats not really a healthy way to lose weight, he said.
Long-term, fad diets are really not successful, and really not healthy,Friedlsaid.
I think we all have the examples of somebody thats gone on a fad diet and rapidly in one to two to three weeks seen some success in losing some weight. Initially, oftentimes people can lose some weight, just because its different, just because its a reduction in calories. But in the long term, theres a reason theyre all fad diets, he said. In the long term, its really not a sustainable diet, its really not a sustainable level of calories to take in, and so after that initial drop, you tend to kind of see things level off and possibly even kind of regain some of the weight as your body adjusts to that current intake of calories.
Or its just unsustainable to eat whatever the fad has to eat every day for the next 20 to 30 years of your life; theres no way you can actually live that way. In the long term, fad diets really arent successful. Again, thats why theyre fad diets and not ongoing diets. Thats why the balanced fruit and vegetables, lean proteins and whole wheats, as far as carbohydrates, is really kind of sustained because its something that people really can do. It is maintainable, where these fad diets, its just not a sustainable way to survive and exist in the environment that we live in.
Depending on the type of diet, there are some inherent dangers.
The focus on a particular type of food, or a particular type of substance to take in, then if youre not taking in that balance ... youre not getting the vitamins, and minerals and things that your body really needs to function. You can lose the weight, you can survive on it for a little while, but your body doesnt really work properly, and eventually some of the body systems start to shut down or slow down, and you just dont feel good and youre not operating at a high level,Friedlsaid. Just like if you never get your oil changed in your car, it can run for a little while, but the damage youre doing to that engine oftentimes isnt reversible.
You can take in the one thing theyre telling you to eat all the time, but if youre not getting the protein you need, your muscles arent developing, theyre starting to break down; your organs are made of muscle, so the organs start to break down, theyre not functioning the way you need to.
The body does not process a multivitamin quite the same as eating fruits and vegetables, he said.
You dont want to restrict your body from getting something thats a healthy nutrient,Friedlsaid. Thats one of the things that oftentimes we talk about. What are the bad things that I should be avoiding? The high sugars, the fats, those things. And thats a good conversation to have, but on the flip side its, What do I really need to take in to be healthy? What do I need to take in to be well? Thats where we look at that balance of those macronutrients, the carbohydrates, the proteins, the dairies, but then also those other chemicals that are in a variety of fruits and vegetables. Getting a different array of colors in your fruits and vegetables kind of comes with different vitamins and minerals.
Making sure youre really taking in a variety of fruits and vegetables, a variety of meat or protein sources and some good, healthy carbohydrates really keeps your body taking in what you need so you can really function at your best.
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Expert shares keys to fighting obesity - Enid News & Eagle
