Attaining a Healthy Life Style in the Mid Age - Research Paper Example

This paper attempts to explore the various techniques to attain a healthy life style including a healthy diet, exercise and optimum amount of socialization. These techniques and tips will be analyzed for their practicality and suitability for a person in his or her middle adulthood, seeking to attain an overall healthy life style. 1. Introduction An unhealthy life style or bad eating habits and lack of physical exercise can lead to general weakness which not only hinders one in enjoying life fully; but may also result in decreased immunity against diseases in the long run (Jegtvig, 2007). People often do realize the importance of a healthy life style by the time they reach mid adulthood since symptoms of general body weakness are more likely to be apparent at this age. 1.1 Healthy Life Style According to the World Health Organization (1999), a healthy life style is a way of living that reduces one’s chances of getting preventable diseases; enables one to enjoy life more and has a positive effect on one’s family and social life. Life style itself is a very vast term and healthy life style has even greater dimensions. The main components of a healthy life style are: Eating a variety of healthy food, getting regular exercise, having time to relax and adequate amount of sleep (Healthy Living, 1996). There are many other components of a healthy life style including weight control and not smoking (Stibich, 2007). 1.2 Performance Performance refers to the productivity of a person at his or her work place. Performance is related to life style. An unhealthy life style tends to reduce work performance of an individual. The cognitive processes become sluggish due to ill health, resulting in a negative impact on the work performance (Group, 2009) . 1.3 Mid Age Mid age is chronologically defined as the period of an adult’s life beyond young adulthood but before the age of 55 years; but according to Yaffe and Steward (1984), mid age is not just a chronological period. Rather it is a set of biological, social and psychological developmental tasks (Yaffe & Steward, 1984). Since adulthood covers many years of one’s life, Erickson has divided it into early, middle and late adulthood for convenience of study. The main developmental tasks faced in mid adulthood are of transmitting culture and being productive (Harder, 2002). People often have an unhealthy life style and develop a desire to attain a healthy life style usually when symptoms of illness begin to take their toll. Mid age is not too late to become concerned about a healthy life style (Research Cell, 2009). 1.4 Nutrition The common time when most people start becoming over weight is middle adulthood (Sharples; 2009 & Rollwitz, 1999). Sharples (2009) suggests that a diet with high fiber, low sugar and a lot of minerals is appropriate for mid aged people, seeking to attain a balanced nutritional routine. With increase in age, humans suffer a decrease in energy. The metabolism rate slows down and burning fat is not as easy like it was in youth. This decrease in energy accompanied with same routine of food consumption causes and excess of food, leading to weight problems (Rollwitz, 1999). Rollwitz (1999) suggests a diet that is devoid of fried food completely, is very low in fat, consisting of good type of protein (Fish or Chicken) and good type of carbohydrate (Potato and rice). Some supplements like multi vitamins and minerals are also helpful in this age (Rollwitz, 1999). 1.5 Exercise Regular exercise is a basic component of a healthy life style (Healthy living, 1996 & Stibich, 2007 & Research cell 2009). Among all components of a healthy life style, not smoking and exercising regularly have been more focused by researchers. According to one study, cited in Research Cell (2009), lack of exercise is equally injurious to health as is smoking and high blood pressure. According to Hale (2010), people who exercise all their lives live longer that those who don’t and those who exercise during their middle adulthood have equally good chances of longevity as those who exercise all their lives. It means that starting exercise in mid age gives us a second chance of increasing the years we live. In middle age, extensive exercise like fast running or aerobics can be harmful for knees and bones; however, Rollwitz (1999) suggests some suitable exercise for this age group. Cardio vascular exercises in early morning are effective and if a mid aged person wishes to walk, the walking speed and duration should be enhanced very steadily so as not to cause any damage to the body that is not used to vigorous physical activity. Rollwitz (1999) also suggests that lifting too much weight can be harmful and it is advisable to hire a personal trainer to guide one about what type of exercise is appropriate and what is not. 1.6 Non Smoking and Non Drinking It is common knowledge that smoking leads to lung diseases and drinking reduces the longevity of a person. Both these activities are indicators of as unhealthy life style. According to Best and colleagues (1998), people who smoke and drink excessively tend to have poor eating habits that contribute to an altogether unhealthy life style. 1.7 Socialization Since the main goal in the mid age is to transmit knowledge to the younger generation (Harder, 2002), socializing with children, young people and people of same age and sharing each other’s experiences is a must. Social isolation in this age may result is what Erickson calls ‘stagnation’, which means lack of productivity. Same id also confirmed by Macionis and Gerber (1995). 1.8 Medical Checkups According to Shaprles (2009), many mid aged people are deficient in vitamin D. there are some other routine medical checkups suggested by the healthy Aging Guide (2010). These include: Thyroid hormone tests, rectal exam, weight check, blood pressure and sugar tests, cholesterol level checkups and pelvic examination for women. 2. Literature Review Some relevant research regarding life style issues in middle age were reviewed to gain a better insight into the subject. A summary of each study is briefed as follows. An article by Lister (2009) that was published in the daily Times on September 18th, 2009; reported a study comprising of 1900 middle aged men. It concluded that middle aged people who are overweight, smokers and have high levels of cholesterol and blood pressure die fifteen years early on the average. The medical director of British heart foundation suggested in light of this study, that all middle aged people have regular medical checkups and that these regular checkups must include blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Richardson and colleagues (2004) conducted a research to investigate the relation between physical activity and mortality with regard to cardio vascular diseases. The study was observational, using data from the HRS. The results showed almost 64% deaths due to Cardio vascular diseases can actually be attributed to a sedentary life style that has below optimum physical activity. This research shows that people who do not exercise have a greater risk of dying by heart diseases as compared to the people who enjoy regular exercise and an optimum level of physical activity. In a longitudinal study by King, Mainous and Geesey (2007), the researchers studied a group of 15000 people on the four healthy habits that are: Eating fruits and vegetables, having at least two hours of exercise a week, controlling weight and not smoking. At the beginning only 8.4%of the participants were found to be having these habits, while six years onwards and equal amount of more participants reported to have developed them. The participants with healthy four activities were found to be 35 percent less likely to develop a heart problem and 40 percent less likely to die in the next four year period. The findings suggest that a good way to start changing an unhealthy life style towards attaining a healthy one is to eat more servings of fruits and vegetables, exercise regularly, keep weight under control and quit smoking. Yaffe and Steward (1984) conducted a study to highlight the role the family physician can play in helping adults to adjust to their middle life changes. They concluded that a family physician must firstly pay attention to the health issues that the patient might address anxiety about that mostly are associated with style of living including headache, back pain, abdominal and pelvic pain, muscle tension etc. Secondly, the physician must provide a sympathetic ear towards the patients concerns and thirdly the physician should brief the patients about common problems in middle age so that the patient won’t feel as if he or she is the only one facing the problem. In another study Elliot and Colleagues (2005) found out that women who were obese at the age of 30 were at a higher risk of developing cancer as compared to the non obese women participants six years later the actual initial survey. The researchers further reported that although a weight gain in adult hood was a contributing factor tin cancer, the gradual weight gain during 12 to 51 years of age was actually good for health. Unhealthy life style also has a negative impact on work performance. In a study, Magione and colleagues (1999) concluded that drinking is related to poor performance at work. This study involved measuring drinking habits through various indicators and comparing it with the performance level of the subjects. In another research, Thogerson and colleagues (2010) showed how improving life style step wise and adding the habit of walking can improve work performance gradually. The intervention introduced by researchers was a short walk at lunch time which showed an increase in work performance among those who took this intervention unlike those who did not. The above literature review suggests that middle age is not too late to adopt a healthy life style and doing so in this age can definitely lead to a healthier and longer life and enhanced work performance. 3. Discussion Most researches exploring the healthy life style in middle age have focused on the role of diet and exercise (Richardson, et.al, 2004; Healthy living, 1996 & Stibich, 2007 & Research cell 2009). Others have focused on weight control. Many studies have concluded that obesity can lead to early death due to diseases like cancer and Cardio vascular problems (Elliot, 2005; King, et.al, 2007 & Richardson, et.al, 2005). Other researchers have also highlighted the bad effects of smoking and drinking on one’s health. Two of the reviewed studies have also explored the role of optimum socialization and expression of concerns regarding health in the middle adult hood (Yaffe & Steward, 1984; Harder, 2002). There is also ample research that shows the relation between healthy life style and work performance (Thogerson, et.al, 2010 & Mangione, et.al, 1999). 4. Conclusion In the light of above discussion it can be concluded that attaining a healthy life style in the middle age might be challenging but the health benefits of such a change are worth the pains taken to attain a healthy life style. Enjoying a healthy life style in middle age involves eating healthy, exercising regularly, enjoying an optimum level and amount t of socialization, avoiding smoking and drinking and controlling one’s weight. 5. Recommendations and Suggestions to attain a Healthy Lifestyle in Mid Age In the light of all literature that has been reviewed, following are some suggestions for middle aged adults who are seeking to attain a healthy life style and to enhance their performance: Eat a healthy diet with a lot of fiber, less fat and less sugar. Add a supplement of vitamins and minerals in your diet. Make soft proteins and milk a part of your daily diet. Avoid fried foods, quit smoking and drinking. Exercise regularly, but start gradually. Walking half an hour a day at a normal pace is good at the beginning. Do not attempt vigorous exercises until your body is toned enough to tolerate it. Make sure that you take out time to chat with your friend, relatives and children if you have any. Discuss and express your feelings and concerns openly. Go for regular medical checkups including blood pressure, sugar and cholesterol levels. References Best, D et.al (1998). 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