Healthy eating tips for kids, adults The National Eating
Disorders Association provides these seven tips for kids (many of
them are good advice for grown-ups, too):
Eat when you are hungry. Stop eating when you are full.
There are no “good” or “bad” foods, so eat lots of different
foods, including fruits, vegetables and even sweets sometimes.
Eat different types of snacks: sometimes raisins, sometimes
cheese, sometimes a cookie, or sometimes carrot sticks or celery
dipped in peanut butter.
If you are sad, mad or bored, find something to do other than
eating.
Try to find a sport or activity that you like, then do it.
Good health, feeling good about yourself and having fun go hand
in hand. Try different hobbies, such as drawing, playing music or
making things.
Remind yourself that healthy bodies come in all sizes.
— Karen Shideler, McClatchy Newspapers Last call for senior
citizens Although alcohol abuse is most often regarded as a problem
affecting young people, a large federally funded study has now
found that nearly one in 10 Americans older than 65 drinks too
much.
Researchers led by Elizabeth Merrick, a senior scientist at
Brandeis University’s Heller School for Social Policy and
Management, used data from a 2003 survey of more than 12,000
Medicare recipients to determine the prevalence of unhealthy
drinking among the elderly.
Merrick’s team found that 9 percent of those older than 65
engaged in unhealthy drinking, consuming four or more drinks in a
single day or more than 30 per month. Overall, two-thirds of those
surveyed said they did not drink at all.
The recommended limit for the elderly is lower than for younger
people, researchers note, because those older than 65 metabolize
alcohol differently and may be more sensitive to its effects,
especially if they are taking certain medications.
Health officials say that consuming more than seven drinks per
week or more than three during one day raises the risk of medical
problems, including falls that can lead to hip fracture.
Merrick and her colleagues found that heavy alcohol users were
more likely to be white males, and to have higher levels of income
and education. They were also more likely to smoke, to be single
and to be younger and healthier than those who drank less or not at
all.
The study was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse
and Alcoholism and appears in the Journal of the American
Geriatrics Society.
