ANDERSON — A new study shows that only 2.7 percent of the national population meets four basic criteria for a healthy lifestyle, and local medical professionals don’t think Madison County is in much better shape.
The four criteria are having an appropriate balanced diet, being moderately active, being a non-smoker and having a recommended body fat percentage. The study was conducted from Aug. 15, 2013, through Jan. 5, 2016, by Oregon State University, the University of Mississippi and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and published in Mayo Clinical Proceedings.
Out of the 4,745 people included in the study, 97.3 percent did not meet all four criteria. Rather than just surveying the participants, they actually tested them in each category, making the study more accurate.
A lot more people met two goals (37 percent), and about 34 percent of the group met one goal.
However, the survey said the conclusion is that these factors are particularly important for cardiovascular health risk factors.
Dr. Charles Williams of Anderson Family Health Specialists, and Angie Howald, an adult geriatric primary care nurse practitioner with the St. Vincent Medical Group cardiology practice, said they aren’t surprised by the extremely low percentage.
“I think we are pretty conceited about our own health,” Williams said. “It’s sort of a societal thing, unfortunately.”
While Madison County was not measured in this survey, the county ranks low against other Indiana counties. The county is ranked 79th for health outcome out of the 92 counties in the state.
Williams said diet is one of the most important factors in getting healthy but is also one of the most difficult parts.
“The cheapest food items now are the least healthy,” he said. “It’s easy for people to buy the things that are going to be detrimental to their overall health.”
Madison County also ranks poorly with heart disease and stroke. The health indicator is 99 for Madison County when it comes to heart disease and stroke, while Indiana ranks at a 85.5 indicator, which is still not a good indicator.
By changing their habits in the four health factors the study used, people should be able to decrease their chance of cardiovascular disease substantially.
Howald said she thinks the key to turning around Madison County’s amount of heart disease is education.
“An half an hour is the least amount of time I’m going to spend with someone because I believe education is a huge component of health,” she said. “Understanding or not understanding is a huge problem. People would rather spend money on cigarettes than money on their medications.”
Howald said she thinks quitting smoking is the best thing people can do for their cardiovascular health.
“I see a lot of patients who have had an open heart surgery bypass and they are still smoking,” she said. “Everyone they are around, 24 hours a day, still smokes.”
Howald and Williams both said getting activity is easier than many people think it is.
“It can be at home with a jump rope or playing with your kids for 30 minutes,” Howald said. “About 30 minutes every day is enough to have heart health benefits.”
Williams said he sees a lot of parks and trails throughout Madison County that are not being utilized enough.
Howald said when it comes to improving health, it is really about starting somewhere and working up to all four health components. And when it comes to losing weight, the amount lost doesn’t have to be drastic to have positive effects.
“People think they have to lose hundreds of pounds,” she said. “If a 200-pound person loses 10 pounds, that makes a difference.”