to eat fewer processed and fried foods and more
fruits, vegetables, and whole grain products to
meet the nutritional needs of their bodies.
Physical activity Despite the proliferation of
gyms, health clubs, and fitness centers over the
past few decades, fewer than 20 percent of Ameri-
can adults get the daily physical exercise their
bodies need to maintain cardiovascular health and
overall metabolic efficiency. Lack of regular physi-
cal activity may be more of a factor than eating
habits for health maintenance as well as develop-
ment of health conditions. An adult needs a mini-
mum 30 minutes of sustained, moderately
intense, physical activity (such as walking) every
day and one to two hours of sustained, moderate
to high intensity, exercise (such as swimming,
running, bicycling, or basketball) three or four
times a week to maintain optimal health.
Obesity Obesity, a combination of factors with
eating habits and physical activity at the hub,
emerged in the 1990s as an independent health
risk factor for numerous health conditions. Key
among them are HYPERTENSION(high BLOOD PRES-
SURE), HEART FAILURE, OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNEA, type
2 diabetes, OSTEOARTHRITIS, infertility, and GALL-
BLADDER DISEASE. The current clinical standard for
assessing health risk associated with body weight
is the BODY MASS INDEX(BMI), a mathematical calcu-
lation that converts height-and-weight ratio to an
aggregate measure of body mass. Researchers
have been able to correlate such measures with
health conditions and know that lowering BMI,
which only occurs through weight loss, corre-
spondingly lowers health risk.
Reducing Personal Health RiskHealth risk factors tend to converge in patterns of
increased susceptibility. A person who develops
diabetes, for example, acquires an increased risk
for cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and
cataracts. As well, the risks for these conditions
further increase with age, and family history may
also play a role. The key to mitigating health risks
is sustained modifications in lifestyle habits that
allow a person to maintain optimal health.
Sometimes these modifications are in response
to the emergence of health conditions such as car-
diovascular disease, diabetes, or cancer. Though
the health condition becomes a risk factor as well,
changes that improve modifiable risk factors pro-
vide cumulative health benefits. For example, a
person who has a heart attack may begin walking
every day as part of a cardiac rehabilitation pro-
gram. The regular physical exercise improves car-
diovascular health, and over time the person loses
10 or 20 pounds. Blood pressure, blood GLUCOSE
(sugar), and blood cholesterol levels also come
down.
Nearly everyone can benefit from doing as
much as is possible to reduce health risk factors.
Seldom is it too late to make changes that improve
health and QUALITY OF LIFE.
See also ACCIDENTAL INJURIES; CONGENITAL ANOM-
ALY; DIET AND HEALTH; INHERITANCE PATTERNS; LIFESTYLE
AND HEALTH; EXERCISE AND HEALTH; RISK FACTORS FOR
CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE; SEXUAL HEALTH; SEXUALLY
TRANSMITTED DISEASE(STD) PREVENTION; YOUTH HIGH-
RISK BEHAVIOR.Healthy People 2010 A program of health ini-
tiatives that numerous US health agencies jointly
sponsor, the goals of which are to improve overall
public health in key areas called leading health
indicators. The first Healthy People program,
Healthy People 2000, evolved from the 1979 US
surgeon general’s report of the same name. It
established criteria for health monitoring and
improvement. Various federal and state health
organizations structured their objectives and pro-
grams to dovetail with Healthy People 2000.
Though Healthy People 2000 did not achieve all
of its goals, it resulted in measurable improve-
ments in many areas of public health. Healthy
People 2010 updates and expands the goals of its
predecessor, with annual reports that identify
accomplishments and challenges. Healthy People
2010 draws data from existing sources and mecha-
nisms.
Among the participating US federal agencies
are the Agency for Healthcare Research and Qual-
ity (AHRQ), Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention (CDC), US Food and Drug Administration
(FDA), Indian Health Service, National Institutes
of Health (NIH), Office of Population Affairs, and
President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.
As well, more than 400 state and communityHealthy People 2010 29