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by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.
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Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

How To Avoid Aging Without Dying -- Watch Less TV (For Starters)!

Wednesday September 18, 2002

my age? I've never been my age before. I have no experience. Anonymous

A lot of people simply obsess about aging. They color their hair, wear a rug or plug their scalps, spend money on anti-aging pills/potions/and prescriptions and sometimes take even more drastic action, such as plastic surgery. Some, like myself, go to truly extreme lengths -- and exercise vigorously every day.

What about you? Do you do any of the above silly things to avoid aging? I was just kidding about the exercise part -- that is about the BEST thing you could possibly do! Or, do you think you're too old for that sort of thing? One month or so from now, on Thursday, October 31, it will be Halloween once again. To give you plenty of time to prepare, here is a Halloween-focused aging test. It's called "Ten Signs You Are Too Old To Be Trick Or Treating!" (It was sent to me in an e-mail post by a friend named Marty Turnauer -- the actual author is anonymous. That guy Anonymous has written a lot of good stuff.) In David Letterman fashion, the reasons for not trick or treating for older folks are in descending order with the most significant barriers toward the bottom.

10. You get winded from knocking on the door.

9. You have to have another kid chew the candy for you.

8. You ask for high fiber candy only.

7. When someone drops a candy bar in your bag, you lose your balance and fall over.

6. People say, "Great Keith Richards mask!" and you're not wearing a mask.

5. When the door opens you yell, "Trick or..." and can't remember the rest.

4. By the end of the night, you have a bag full of restraining orders.

3. You have to carefully choose a costume that won't dislodge your hairpiece.

2. You're the only Power Ranger in the neighborhood with a walker.

1. You avoid going to houses where your ex-wives live.

Now to get serious. Studies consistently have shown that you can improve your fitness level by watching less TV -- providing you are exercising instead! Seriously, you truly need to do something to motivate yourself to work out vigorously an hour a day. At least. Many folks say they just don't have the time to incorporate exercise as part of a self-management program. This is not a good attitude for purposes of an effective "slow down the aging process" strategy. A lot of people who do not have time to exercise vigorously spend, on average, about thirty hours watching television each week. A recent Harvard study suggests that such a pattern will not only make you feel too old to trick or treat but is also quite likely to lead to type 2 diabetes! Here are the main findings of this study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

In 40,000 healthy, middle-age men followed over a ten-year period who completed lifestyle questionnaires regularly during this time span, the onset of type 2 diabetes depended, in good part, on their exercise and TV habits. Men who exercised a lot reduced their risk of developing diabetes by 50 percent, while those who watched the most television (over 40 hours a week) more than doubled their risk.

As you might expect, those who exercised more were leaner and also less likely to smoke than sedentary TV addicts. Watching a lot of TV was correlated with an intake of more fatty foods and sweets, and fewer fruits and vegetables. Naturally, the TV-watching crowd was heavier and more likely to have high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

I suspect they also felt they were too old to trick or treat, or even to go to the door and treat those who tricked. After all, they would not want to miss part of the TV programs. Just for the record, in case you were wondering, it's not thought that TV watching CAUSES diabetes! The illness is not contracted from signals or something emitted from the TV. It's just that all that viewing takes time, time that might otherwise be spent working out and enjoying a life.

It's not only TV that should be your concern. Be wary about how much time you spend working at a computer, at your desk and behind the wheel or elsewhere in cars. Spend, spend spend -- energy, that is. The Harvard researchers found that brisk walking offered benefits comparable to more vigorous exercise, like running, swimming and biking -- and almost always proved more convenient, less expensive and associated with fewer injuries.

So, know that there is nothing tricky about it. Give yourself the biggest treat of all -- a healthy lifestyle organized around daily exercise, not TV shows.

All the best. Be well and look on the bright -- and the light, side of life.

Domain: physical
Subdomain: exercise and fitness

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