Nature's weigh: practical and fun ways to reduce obesity and chronic disease risks.

Nearly 100 million American adults, adolescents, and children obese, according to David Satcher, M.D., former United States Surgeon General. Just 15 to 20 pounds or 20 percent of extra body weight significantly, increases your risk for heart disease, diabetes, and nearly 40 other chronic diseases. When body fat reaches 30 percent or more of your body weight, it doubles your risk for heart disease. By losing and keeping off 5 to 10 percent of excess weight, you greatly lower that cardiac disease risk. And more than 85 percent of all newly diagnosed cases of diabetes are obesity-caused.

Modifying physical activity and actively becoming involved with nature activities are practical, realistic, and fun ways to meet and maintain healthy goals. Physical activities can be inside your home and outside in your yard, around the neighborhood, and at the zoo. The kinds of food and the quantities you eat play a major role in this plan. Each can vary with nature's four seasons.

Activities for children can be accomplished in public, private, or home-schooling settings. The country's pediatricians are rethinking their diagnostic tests and treatment approaches in order to provide the best care for the epidemic numbers of obese children, many of whom now have adult diseases, such as Type 2 diabetes.

Legislators, including the U.S. Senate's only medical doctor, Tennessee senator Bill Frist, will soon be introducing a bill to provide community physical activity in the school, workplace, and nursing homes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that 25 percent of adults met government physical activity recommendations, while 30 percent had almost no activity. The CDC is encouraging schools to implement physical education and nutrition classes.

Walking, Running

Tommy Thompson, U.S. secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), says, "In just 30 minutes of walking a day, five days a week, you can significantly improve your health." The secretary of the Department of Education, Rod Paige, and CDC staffers encourage schoolchildren to walk. Secretary Thompson and the assistant secretary of the Administration on Aging, Josefina Carbonell, suggest, for disease prevention, that older Americans should walk with their families, urging, "It is never too late to start exercising and eating properly."

Just before our nation's 226th birthday, President Bush took White House staffers for a run in Washington, D.C., while the first lady walked. The president then traveled to Orlando, Florida, where he showed seniors how to become more active. And at a July fitness expo on the south lawn of the White House age-appropriate exercises were demonstrated.

The President's Council on Physical Fitness has information about how exercise, physical activity, and health are related and what you can do to reduce obesity and lower chronic disease risk. The Healthier U.S. Initiative has been established to encourage regular exercise and the benefits of a healthy diet (www.healthierus.gov).

Even the 2000 Census shows that almost 82,000 people in the greater Washington, D.C., area walk to work. Foot travel accounts for 1 in 8 (or 30,000) commuters in the nation's capital itself.

Nature Activities, Healthy Foods

Most of us think of a 9-to-5 workday. Think in reverse--eat 5 to 9 servings every day of nature's original fast foods. Many of these foods, which take time to grow, require little work and can be eaten uncooked or prepared in as short a time as a few minutes. And these healthy foods--representing the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet--are obesity and chronic-disease risk reducers.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and HHS began the largest nutrition education initiative in the world in April to encourage Americans to have a balanced diet (combined with physical activity) to reduce obesity. The National School Lunch Program and the Women, Infants, and Children Program also will help to provide healthy eating tips.

Even Secretary Thompson, who wants to lose 15 pounds, says he is "experimenting with new things, trying to hit all the color food groups." When he eats right, the secretary finds he is "less likely to be hungry and hit the vending machines." The National Institutes of Health's National Cancer Institute has copious information about its 5-a-day program on its Web site: www.fiveaday.gov.

Here are some simple ABCs of healthy eating. Apples: whether red, yellow, or green, contain chronic disease-fighting antioxidants, are very low in calories, and often can be eaten without any preparation other than washing. Beans: are high in fiber, lower cholesterol, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by 19 percent. Low sodium canned beans, which are staples in many vegetarian diets, can be prepared in as quickly as two minutes in a microwave. Many are red (kidney, pinto, adzuki) and yellow (garbanzo).

Carrots receive their nutrients as they grow under the ground, are low in calories and rich in the antioxidant beta-carotene, which can be converted into a form of vitamin A, when eaten. As this colorful veggie is eaten raw or cooked, it protects our cells from oxidation damage, reduces the risk of heart disease, and helps us see better. Carrots often accompany proteins, other vegetables, and fruits.

Biophilia 

It can be stress-relieving to try your hand at growing a garden in your yard or in a community plot. Our love of nature, which is known as biophilia, also includes watching plants and landscapes. Each of these relaxing activities is known to reduce high blood pressure, which frequently occurs with obesity and subsequently leads to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and secondary complications.

Interest in animals--either pets in your home, such as dogs, cats, and fish, or those observed in a zoo--is another way in which humans are naturally attracted to other living organisms. A pair of binoculars and observant ears are all you need to watch birds in your neighborhood or on a guided nature walk in the park. Or have a bird as a pet. By observing how birds eat frequently and in small quantities, you can learn to appreciate their interaction with nature. There are tree-perching and water birds, each with different songs. The common expression "She eats like a bird" refers to these creatures that regulate their food intake and are not overweight.

Children, adults, and seniors--especially those who are parents of baby boomers--can benefit from nature and physical activities while reducing the prevalence of obesity and the risk of the onset and progression of chronic diseases. A 2000 National Health Interview Survey found that more than 20 percent of the American population aged 20 and older is obese. This 12 percent increase from 1997 was most noticeable in the 40-59 age bracket, in which more than 25 percent of these individuals are obese. Weight loss and exercise are the primary ways to combat chronic disease risk.

Dr. Barbara Anan Kogan, a health-care writer since 1976, practiced conventional and preventive optometric vision care for adults and children in downtown Washington, D.C., for 13 years. Postdoctorally educated in nutrition, she advised patients about visual and systemic effects of obesity on potentially blinding and fatal chronic diseases and lectured at international professional meetings and symposia. Since 1992, when she modified her own diet to become a lacto-ovovegetarian and added exercises, she has successfully maintained normal cholesterol levels. She enjoys gardening and birding.