Your health -- It's not just smart, it's your duty

10/4/2002 - F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. (AFPN) -- Allow me to pass on my convictions on health, as a middle-aged male, a parent, a husband, a physician and as a commander. No matter what "hat" any one of us wears, we have an obligation to ourselves, to our loved ones, and as military members, to our country, to care for our health.

If you know it is important to change the oil in your car, then why is it so hard to believe that you have to take care of your body? Prevention and good health are the keys to the future and fall into three simple categories: diet, exercise and tobacco use.

Obesity is increasing alarmingly fast in the world, and America is leading the way. The typical "Western diet" is high in saturated fat and sugars. This toxic and high-calorie diet is the major cause of heart disease, diabetes and stroke. Combine this unhealthy diet with lack of exercise, and one becomes a walking time bomb. Most health professionals consider 30 pounds over ideal body weight obesity. In 1991, only seven states had 15 percent or more of the population considered obese; by 2001, all but one had obesity rates over 15 percent.

The average human needs about 2,200 calories per day to remain active and healthy. Look on the wall of the next fast food restaurant you enter for the nutrition facts they post. The "super meal" well exceeds this, and has a fat content over four times the recommended amount.

I have fought the "battle of the bulge" nearly my entire life, and pushed the limits of the Air Force weight standards for most of my career. I never met a chip I didn't like, or a stalk of celery I particularly did! I have, though, learned how to eat a sensible low-fat diet.

I admit I was lucky. I met and married the queen of low-fat cooking, and it was easy to learn to live by it. And if I can, anyone can. Want to try? Call the health and wellness center and you will kill three birds with one stone: you will feel better, be able to do more and you will greatly reduce your risk for the biggest killer diseases in this country.

Exercise is the most effective companion to smart eating in preventing the same diseases. It multiplies the effects of weight-loss programs immeasurably. The key to success in exercise is "start low, go slow." Success is measured over time, and it's clear that those who set reasonable expectations and stay with it as a lifestyle change succeed, while those who overdo it initially get discouraged, even injured.

The time and place to exercise must be fixed, and an "immovable rock" on your daily routine. Look at your schedule. I will assure you there is an hour and a half, three times a week, that you have time to start an exercise program.

Finally, smoking is the "800-pound gorilla" of killers in our society. Consider these tobacco facts: half a million deaths a year, $50 billion in health care and $47 billion in lost productivity last year. The cost to each American is about $400 per year, regardless of age. That's about what a retired family pays to enroll in TRICARE Prime. The cost just to buy the cigarettes for a one-pack-a-day smoker is approximately $912 a year. That's about one month's pay for a new airman.

Now for the good news. Sixty percent of smokers tried in some way to quit last year and more than 20 percent of those who tried were successful. Success goes up with repeated tries. Success really goes up when one participates in an organized program.

What is this about duty? I feel that optimizing your health is a duty to those who depend on you, to those you care about, and to the country you serve. It is this simple: a more productive, longer life can make a bigger difference. (Courtesy of Air Force Space Command News Service)