Dietary Guidelines:  Food, Physical Activity, and Weight Control

Obesity is surpassing cigarette smoking as the number one cause of preventable morbidity and mortality in the United States.  Studies show that maintaining healthy weight can prevent the occurance or severity of complications related to chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and many other preventable health conditions.

Programs to check out:

"Bradford-Sullivan Well Weighs"  This program is from a grant funded through The Blue Ribbon Foundation of Blue Cross of North-Eastern Pennsylvania.    Karen Johnson, the new director of this program, is located at the Towanda YMCA at 268-9622.  This grant will be used to develop a program to reduce overweight and obesity by encouraging healthy lifestyles for the residents of Bradford and Sullivan counties. 

Are you able to work on your own?   Look at  www.FitDay.com  for your online diet and fitness journal.  This is a new tool to help you achieve your nutrition, weight loss, diet and & fitness goals.  This is a free program that works by analyzing data you enter.  It will provide detailed graphical reports on: calories, fat, carbohydrates, and protein intakes.  It will give nutritional analysis, exercise and metabolism, calorie expenditure, and your weight loss progress.  You are able to set personal goals and it will chart your progress

Could a Nutrition Expert help you?  If you need to change your eating habits for the sake of your health, have you considered talking with a registered dietitian?  There are many reasons to seek help from a dietitian. If you have high cholesterol, diabetes, or high blood pressure or are overweight, seeing an RD regularly may be something you want to consider.  A referral from your doctor should make you elegible for insurance coverage.  Call the Towanda Memorial Hospital or Troy Community Hospital for more infomation.

Your pattern of eating may also be important.  Snacks provide a large percentage of daily calories for many Americans.  Unless nutritious snacks are part of the daily meal plan, snacking may lead to weight gain.

Stay clear of Fad Dieting.  Americans spend $33 billion annually for weight loss products and services that offer quick fixes.  For tips on recognizing fad diets, check out the American Heart Association's website at

www.americanheart.org then click on healthy lifestyle for more information on diet and health.