How Healthy is Your State?

I don't know why, but I love seeing the latest ranking polls especially when it comes to health and fitness…

Today, I was reading over an article that listed the healthiest states in the US. It clearly showed how New England and many other Northern states were much higher rated than their Southern counterpart which unfortunately has been the trend for quite a while now. I was happy to see that my home state of Massachusetts, which used to be number 10 has inched its way up to number 3 in the healthiest states to live in column (and one of the least obese).

Of course, I don’t hold these rankings to be steadfast truths but I’m willing to bet they're close approximations. Here’s the criteria that was used:

"This annual ranking, published by the United Health Foundation, looks at 22 indicators of health, including everything from how many children receive recommended vaccinations, to obesity and smoking rates, to cancer deaths."

Where did your state rank and do you think it’s accurate?

> Check out all 50 states here

Is Heat an Appetite Suppressant?

A small study was just conducted that showed that men who exercised in hot temperatures were less inclined to eat a lot of calories after working out.

Researchers believe it may be that since the men exercised in hot conditions it raised their core body temperature to a higher degree which shut down their appetite. This is believed to be the case since eating would further heat up your body and as a result your appetite would naturally be suppressed. It’s also the reason why cold temperatures may increase your appetite.

Even if this study is true, neither the researchers nor I recommend working out in extreme heat or unsafe conditions. Your safety and health should always be your top priority, but this study may explain why you sometimes feel less hungry after an intense workout.

SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, November 2009

Corporate Wellness Programs Save $400 per Employee

In the past I’ve outlined wellness programs that corporations are currently using to improve corporate morale, community, and health. I’m also happy to hear that many of these companies have continued to stick with these programs even during this current economic slump. Plus, we now have a good amount of data to show that these wellness programs actually work and are saving companies money!

Check out some of the data presented on November 11, 2009 by Emory University researchers at the American Public Health Association meeting in Philadelphia.

“For the moderate or intense intervention employees, the average days absent due to illness per year decreased from 3.9 days in 2006 to 3.4 days in 2007. Researchers found that average absenteeism days at the moderate or intense sites were 1.5 days lower than at the standard sites between 2006 and 2007.

Cost savings due to reduced absenteeism were estimated at $414.90 per employee per year.”

Are People Still Going to Health Clubs?

Do you think people are canceling their gym memberships because of the economy?

2 day ago The International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) announced the results of IHRSA’s Monthly Trends Survey. What they found surprised a lot of non-health club owners.

IHRSA’s survey of health clubs showed that although many “forecasters” who believed that people would cancel their gym memberships during these more difficult economic times were just flat out wrong.

From September 2008 to September 2009 health club memberships stayed steady and even grew during the past year. Also, almost 90% of clubs were planning on hiring additional staff over the next quarter to keep up with demand.

Do these findings surprise you or do you think people need the stress-releasing and healthy aspects of working out more than ever?

How Weight Loss Reduces Cancer Risk

I know a lot of the advertisements and reports you see focus on weight loss for vanity reasons, but you’d be surprised to find out how maintaining a healthy weight can do wonders for your health and longevity.

A special report that was just published by the Mayo Clinic Women’s Health Source in the November issue goes through a number of ways to prevent cancer. One of the big ways was to lose weight because they estimated that "excess weight is a factor in 14 to 20 percent of all cancer-related deaths in American adults."

The Mayo Clinic also recommended being physically active since there is now evidence to demonstrate that people who are physically active have a lower risk of some cancers than those who are more sedentary. Did you know that just 45 to 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a day is considered optimal to reduce the risk of breast and colorectal cancers? This is pretty powerful information if you take advantage of it…

30 Minutes a Day Keeps a Heart Attack Away

Did you know that just 30 minutes of exercise 3x a week can cut your risk of premature death by 60%?

Here are the study details:

After participants of this new study followed a walking, rowing, or jogging program for 3 months the Department of Cardiology in New Orleans were amazed at the results. Researchers from this study also believe that the exercise helped to decrease stress in participants with heart conditions, which in turn lowered their mortality risk significantly.

The researchers have noticed a connection that stress can quadruple your chances of an early death if you have a pre-existing heart condition. Personally, I think 30 minutes 3x a week is a fair trade of your time for the positive benefits you can get from exercise. Are you currently getting 30 minutes of exercise 3x per week? If so, what are you doing?

Source: The Department of Cardiology in New Orleans, American Journal of Medicine

The Most Effective Workplace Wellness Programs Do This

After studying about 38,000 participants researchers have found that employee wellness programs do work. It was discovered that employees were able to lower their cholesterol, decrease stress, improve absentee days, and increase their fitness levels through these programs.

The trick, through, is making sure they stick.

Here are the 3 most effective ways to make sure the program has the best chance of succeeding:
1. The exercise center must be on the workplace premises
2. The program must have strong company participation
3. Employees must have the ability to exercise during the work day

If your workplace has been thinking about developing a wellness program or looking to revamp an old one, I hope these tips allow you to make it more effective!

Read the full story here

Exercising Keeps Visceral Fat from Returning

After a year long study by exercise physiologists it was found that only those who continued exercising kept visceral fat from returning.

These results were tracked after participants went on a strict diet and lost an average of 24 pounds. They split the study participants into 3 groups of aerobic exercisers, resistance exercisers, and non-exercisers. After seeing great results in weight loss maintenance from the exercising group, the achievements of the non-exercisers were discouraging.

The group that did not exercise after losing the initial 24 pounds averaged a 33% increase in visceral fat within the next year. The point of the story is that exercise + diet is the key to long term success – not dieting alone.

Source: University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Human Studies

Michelle Obama Workout Video

Just last week Michelle Obama hula hooped for nearly a minute and a half on the White House lawn in order to raise awareness when it comes to keeping kids healthy.

She believes that if we spread the word about childhood obesity in the community and how to prevent it that we can make a significant difference in keeping the next generation healthy and fit.

If you didn't get to see the fun news clip of Michelle Obama (who is also an advocate of working out herself) you can check out the video below:

Reduce Diabetes Risks with 5 Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors

After some research into diabetics and longevity the World Diabetes Congress reported that the top 20% of those who followed the top 5 healthy lifestyle factors found that they had a 58 percent lower death rate than those in the bottom 40 percent.

That is a huge number when it comes to living a longer healthier life and so I thought it would be a benefit to everyone (diabetic or not) to follow these factors. So although there are many healthy behaviors to follow, the research narrowed it down to just these 5.

1. Physical activity
2. Not smoking
3. Higher healthy eating index
4. Moderate alcohol intake (1-2 drinks per week)
5. Maintaining weight or trying to lose weight in the past 12 months

"Among the healthy behaviors studied, regular, moderate to vigorous physical activity was most protective for those with diabetes," said Saydah, a senior scientist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta.

"Moderate to vigorous physical activity significantly reduced the risk of dying in both adults with and without diabetes, whereas moderate alcohol use, was only protective only in people with diabetes."

Source: Full article