Think there isn't much you can do to change your health?
Think again.
You can directly affect your personal health because you can change your health risk behaviors (unhealthy behaviors). Four of these —lack of exercise or physical activity, poor nutrition, tobacco use, and drinking too much alcohol—cause much of the illness, suffering, and early death related to chronic diseases and conditions.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention there is great room for improvement when it comes to personal behaviors that affect your health.
In 2015, 50% of adults aged 18 years or older did not meet recommendations for aerobic physical activity. In addition, 79% did not meet recommendations for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening physical activity.
More than 1 in 3 adults (about 92.1 million) have at least one type of preventable cardiovascular disease.
About 90% of Americans aged 2 years or older consume too much sodium, which can increase their risk of high blood pressure.
In 2015, more than 37% of adolescents and 40% of adults said they ate fruit less than once a day, while 39% of adolescents and 22% of adults said they ate vegetables less than once a day.
An estimated 36.5 million adults in the United States (15.1%) said they currently smoked cigarettes in 2015. Cigarette smoking accounts for more than 480,000 deaths each year. Each day, more than 3,200 youth younger than 18 years smoke their first cigarette, and another 2,100 youth and young adults who smoke every now and then become daily smokers.
Drinking too much alcohol is responsible for 88,000 deaths each year, more than half of which are due to binge drinking. US adults report binge drinking an average of 4 times a month, and have an average of 8 drinks per binge, yet most binge drinkers are not alcohol dependent.
So why do we wait for our healthcare providers, insurance or drug companies, or politicians to figure out how to improve healthcare?
We can do it without them. You can take charge of your health by taking personal responsibility for reducing your health risk behaviors. The Meducos Health Institute was founded to do just that. Help you help yourself. Through its evidence-based methods and processes you can learn how to make healthy change in your lifestyle behaviors so that you can achieve the health you want.
