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HEALTH & WELLNESS PROGRAMME 2012
The 100 Black Men of London
is proud to launch its
Nutrition Month - April 2012
"Those who are at one with food are at one in life" - Malawian Proverb
Test yourself with our quick 10 Nutrition Questions
(you'll find the answers in the text)
A healthy diet can help reduce your risk of developing coronary heart disease and stop you gaining weight - reducing your risk of diabetes and high blood pressure. It can also help lower your cholesterol levels and reduce your risk of some cancers.
For example, there is evidence that eating too much saturated fat may increase your risk of breast cancer.
Foods that are high in salt or preserved using salt can increase your risk of cancers of the stomach and nasopharynx, the bit where the back of your nose meets your throat.
Eating lots of red and processed meat can increase your risk of bowel cancer, and possibly stomach cancer.
A healthy diet is especially important for the black community as they have a higher incidence of Obesity, Strokes, Diabetes and High Blood Pressure.
According to a new study, it may be easier for ethnic minorities to cut their diabetes risk through better eating habits, as well as improving their health overall.
Click on these links to find out what you need to know about nutrition
The Facts
The Stats
Diet & Health Related Illness
Recommendations
10 Top Tips
Why Famous Black Men Are Dying
Nutrition: The Facts
Nutrition is the science that deals with all the various factors of which food is composed and the way in which proper nourishment is brought about. The intake of food and supplements in the body is utilized for maintaining health, growth and energy. This is made possible with the basic nutrients available in the food.
Food taken in any form either solid or liquid supplies the body a means to produce energy of any form; the available nutrition in the food promotes growth, and maintenance of the body. Proper nutrition is only possible when the diet taken is balanced and the food consumed contains all the basic nutrients.
No single food is rich in all the nutrients so variety of food should be included to fulfil all the requirements of the body as far as nutrients are concerned. When the food consumed does not fulfil the requirements of nutrients, it leads to malnutrition or under nutrition.
http://www.nutritiononline.net/
The Eatwell plate
The Eatwell Plate for a healthy diet
The Eatwell plate represents the five different food groups in the proportions you should eat them, for a healthy, balanced diet.
The basic rules are:
• Eat a variety of foods from each group, including at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day.
• Base meals on starchy foods such as bread, pasta, rice or potatoes. Choose wholegrain varieties when possible.
• Eat smaller amounts of meat or other protein, choosing lower-fat versions when possible.
• Eat two portions of fish each week, one of which should be oily.
• Swap high-fat dairy foods, like full-fat milk and cheese, for lower-fat versions.
• Eat small amounts of fatty and sugary foods.
• Cut down on 'bad' saturated fats and replace with 'good' monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.
• Eat less salt.
• Drink alcohol in moderation.
Energy balance is the state at which the number of calories eaten equals the number of calories used.
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Looking at the energy balance scale, weight gain is a result of taking in extra calories, decreasing physical activity (calories used) or both. Personal choices concerning calorie consumption and physical activity can lead to energy imbalance. This over a long period of time will result in body contour changes, increased weight gain and eventually obesity. With these increases in weight, will come increased risks of health problems.
Energy imbalance - When the number of calories consumed is not equal to the number of calories used during the day or night.
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Weight Gain:
Calories Consumed GREATER THAN Calories Used
Weight Loss:
Calories Consumed LESS THAN Calories Used
No Weight Change
Calories Consumed EQUALS Calories Used
http://www.weightawareness.com
Obesity is when a person is carrying too much body fat for their height and sex. A person is considered obese if they have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater.
Today’s way of life is less physically active than it used to be. People travel on buses and cars, rather than walking, and many people work in offices, where they are sitting still for most of the day. This means that the calories they eat are not getting burnt off as energy. Instead, the extra calories are stored as fat.
Over time, eating excess calories leads to weight gain. Without lifestyle changes to increase the amount of physical activity done on a daily basis, or reduce the amount of calories consumed, people can become obese.
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Obesity/Pages/Introduction.aspx
Most doctors calculate obesity using a formula known as the body mass index (BMI), which is a measure based on height and weight that applies to both adult men and women.
To calculate your BMI divide your weight in kilograms by your height in metres squared.
- 18.5 to 24.9 - normal
- 25 to 29.9 - overweight
- 30 and above - obese
Please note. BMI is not infallible. For instance, it is possible for a healthy, muscular athlete with very low levels of body fat to be classified obese using this formula.
Nutrition: The Stats
As many as 30,000 people die prematurely every year from obesity-related conditions.
The Government is concerned about the levels of obesity in this country. The latest Health Survey for England (HSE) data shows us that nearly 1 in 4 adults, and over 1 in 10 children aged 2-10, are obese.
In 2007, the Government-commissioned Foresight report predicted that if no action was taken, 60% of men, 50% of women and 25% of children would be obese by 2050.
(http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publichealth/Obesity/index.htm)
The problem is growing rapidly. Experts predict that if the current rate of growth continues, three-quarters of the population could suffer the ill effects of excess weight within 10 to 15 years. http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical_health/conditions/obesity.shtml
There is also a significant burden on the NHS - direct costs caused by obesity are estimated to be £4.2 billion per year and forecast to more than double by 2050 if we carry on as we are.
“Reducing obesity is a priority for the Government. We want people to know that they can change their lifestyle and make a difference to their health.”
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publichealth/Obesity/index.htm
Ethnicity & Obesity
- In 2004, among ethnic minority groups, Black Caribbean and Irish men had the highest prevalence of obesity (25 per cent each).
- For women, obesity prevalence was higher for Black African (38 per cent), Black Caribbean (32 per cent) and Pakistani ethnic groups (28 per cent) and lower for Chinese women (8 per cent), than for women in the general population;
http://www.ic.nhs.uk/
- Type 2 diabetes is up to three times more likely in African and Africa-Caribbean people. http://diabetes.webmd.com/news/20060713/ethnicity-alters-diabetes-risks
The British Heart Foundation Statistics show that in the UK:
Stroke rates are the highest in people with an African Caribbean background
You have a higher risk of developing high blood pressure if you are from an African Caribbean background than all the ethnic groups in the UK
The prevalence of type-2 diabetes for people of African Caribbean and South Asian ethnicity is much higher than in the rest of the population.
http://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/prevention/ethnicity.aspx
Nutrition: Diet & Health Related Illness
Some experts believe obesity is responsible for more ill health than smoking. Being significantly overweight is linked to a wide range of health problems, including:
- Diabetes
- Heart disease
- High blood pressure
- Arthritis
- Indigestion
- Gallstones
- Some cancers (eg, breast and prostate cancers)
- Snoring and sleep apnoea
- Stress, anxiety, and depression
- Infertility
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publichealth/Obesity/index.htm
Up to 80 per cent of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and over a third of cancers could be prevented by eliminating lifestyle risk factors such as poor diet, lack of exercise, smoking and excessive alcohol.
Obesity can have a severe impact on people’s health, increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes, some cancers, and heart and liver disease.
http://www.bbc.co.uk
Nutrition: Recommendations
The best way to tackle obesity is by not putting on too much weight in the first place. A combination of a healthy, balanced diet and regular exercise should be sufficient in most instances. Experts recommend vigorous exercise such as brisk walking, swimming or cycling five times a week for 20-30 minutes.
- Fruit and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet and can affect the risk of some cancer types like mouth and throat cancers.
- Try using more beans or pulses instead of meat in your recipes.
- When you do cook meat, use low-temperature methods such as braising. Cooking meat at high temperatures until it chars can produce cancer-causing chemicals.
- Fibre-rich foods can reduce the risk of bowel cancer by at least a quarter. These include fruit and vegetables, wholegrain cereals, wholemeal and wholegrain bread, brown rice and pulses.
- Choose lean cuts of meat and semi-skimmed or skimmed milk.
- Try to avoid frying food in lots of oil.
- Fish could reduce your risk of bowel cancer, although this still needs to be conclusively shown
- By eating the right balances of foods in healthy portions, you can maintain a healthy body weight.
- Working out a daily meal routine and focusing on your food will help increase your awareness of what you are eating and develop healthier eating habits.
Below are 10 tips which are simple habits that everyone can permanently fit into their daily routines. Keeping up all ten tips in the long term will help you lose weight and keep it off.
100BMOL support Cancer Research UK 10 Top Tips
- Keep to your meal routine. Try to eat at roughly the same times each day, whether this is two or five times a day.
- Go reduced fat. Choose reduced fat versions of foods such as dairy products, spreads and salad dressings where you can. Use them sparingly as some can still be high in fat.
- Walk off the weight. Walk 10,000 steps (about 60-90 minutes of moderate activity) each day. You can use a pedometer to help count the steps. You can break up your walking over the day.
- Pack a healthy snack. If you snack, choose a healthy option such as fresh fruit or low calorie yogurts instead of chocolate or crisps.
- Look at the labels. Be careful about food claims. Check the fat and sugar content on food labels when shopping and preparing food.
- Caution with your portions. Don’t heap food on your plate (except vegetables). Think twice before having second helpings.
- Up on your feet. Break up your sitting time. Stand up for ten minutes out of every hour. For more information.
- Think about your drinks. Choose water or sugar-free squashes. Unsweetened fruit juice contains natural sugar so limit it to 1 glass per day (200ml / 1/3 pint). Alcohol is high in calories; try to limit the amount you drink.
- Focus on your food. Slow down. Don’t eat on the go or while watching TV. Eat at a table if possible. For more information, go to our Eating Habits section.
- Don’t forget your 5 a day. Eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day (400g in total).
Why Famous Black Men Are Dying
African-Americans frequently look towards race and economic factors as our biggest challenges, but there are self-inflicted problems that are literally killing us. The recent and untimely deaths of Heavy D and Patrice O’Neal has made the health issues that arise from being overweight very hard to ignore.
Dr. Mwata Dyson, a health care consultant based in New York City adds, “The biggest health care crisis we are facing as a community is the crisis of obesity. We are behind the eight ball.”
Click link to Read Article
Big Men, Big Problems: Obesity-Related Deaths Reignite Discussion Of Health Concerns For Black Men
Click here for your printable Nutrition Top ten tick sheet
Source http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/healthyliving/dietandhealthyeating/ |
