May 31
Let’s Get Moving
Competition Winners & Survey
As you all may be aware the Agency launched the Healthy HSA Campaign
several months ago in an effort to improve employee health. As part of
this campaign, you have received useful tips on how to take care of your
health and the health of your family members. In addition, all employees
were given the opportunity to participate in our employee wellness fair
during the month of March and Let’s Get Moving our walking competition
during the month of April. Below you will find a list of our competition
winners as well as a brief survey (takes less than 5 minutes to complete).
Please take a moment to provide us with your feedback. The Health Promotion
Department will contact all winning participants to award prizes.
Thanks and Congratulations to the following Let’s
Get Moving winners !!
- The staff of the Medical Arts Building, which as a team averaged 7,382
steps daily throughout the time period of four weeks.
- Our Public Health Officer, Dr. John A. Walker, who won the individual
competition by averaging 7043 steps daily.
May 2-6
Let’s Get Moving!!
As our healthy walking competition comes to an end we hope we have provided
you with some useful tips and resources on how to increase your physical
activity levels as part of a healthy lifestyle. Because your health is
important we encourage you to remain active. Remember, regular physical
activity performed for just 30 minutes on most days significantly reduces
the risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, depression, osteoporosis,
high blood pressure and obesity. Best off all it helps you feel and look
your best!!
** SEND US YOUR WALKING LOG TOTALS**
What to Do: Tally up department totals and
fax to the Health Promotion Department @ (209) 558-7538 or send them via
inter office mail. Please note how many employees participated as well
as your department name before sending in. Record sheets without this
information will be disqualified. Individual and department prizes will
be awarded to those employees with the highest individual or department
average. Department and individual winners will be announced via meditech
and outlook.
For additional walking resources or healthy recipes log on to the Healthy
HSA site @ www.hsahealth.org/healthpromotion or Nutrition Network @ www.hsahealth.org/nutritionnetwork.
April 25 -29
Walking Wisdom
Walking is the simplest, easiest and more versatile form of exercise.
Did you know that you use more of your body’s 650 muscles and 206
bones when you walk than when you run? In addition, it also provides you
with some great healthful benefits.
- Walking brightens up your mood
- Walking strengthens up your body
- Walking energizes your body
- Walking burns calories
As with all aerobic activities, vigorous walking should have a warm up
and cool down period. Starting with slower walking will provide sufficient
warm up. Warm muscles are less prone to injury. Changing stride lengths,
increasing the pace and swinging your arms can increase the intensity.
At the end of your walk, stroll slowly and give your body a few minutes
to cool down.
April 18- 21
Moving Yet?
Being moderately active lets you enjoy a wider range of foods as part
of a healthful diet. Thirty minutes of daily moderate activity = burning
extra calories. Can't fit in 30-minute chunks into your day? Aim for a
total time of thirty minutes, by accumulating three 10-minute sessions.
Below are some real good reasons to get moving.
Reminder: Pedometers/ record sheet available through
Health Promotion: Contact the Health Promotion Department @ (209)
558-5657 to reserve your pedometers (HP will ship out to off-site locations
).
Average Calories burned in 30 minutes of activity:
- Volleyball 100 calories
- Leisure swimming 125 calories
- Brisk walking 160 calories
- Leisure cycling 160 calories
- Gardening 185 calories
- Tennis 220 calories
April 11-18
Let’s Get Moving!!
During the month of April we would like to encourage all HSA employees
to get moving! The Health Promotion staff invites you and your departments
to join us in a healthy walking competition.
Everyone is welcome to participate individually or with your entire department.
In addition to this healthy competition we
will roll out weekly tips on how to increase physical activity at work
and at home. Be sure to log on to www.hsahealth.org/healthpromotion to monitor your weekly caloric expenditures, visit walking sites, and
download healthy recipes.
What to Do: click on the following link http://lancaster.unl.edu/food/walk.pdf and print the “walk your way to health record sheet” for you
and your department. (post department record sheet somewhere easily accessible
to everyone such as a break room). Log in your daily steps on your record
sheet and at the end of April tally up department totals.
Pedometers available through Health Promotion:
Contact the Health Promotion Department
@ (209) 558-5657 to reserve your pedometers (HP will ship out to off-site
locations ).
Next: Fax your department totals to the
health promotion department @ (209) 558-7135 or email them to tpaul@schsa.org.
Please note how many employees participated as well as your department
name before sending in. Record sheets without this information will be
disqualified. Individual and department prizes will be awarded to those with highest totals during the month of May.
Getting Started: Start by setting aside
time during lunch. Walk with your department or a group of co-works around
your campus sites.
If your area is not walkable we encourage you to walk at home with your
families (don’t forget to log in your step on your record sheet).
Having a hard time increasing your steps on a daily basis? It’s
simple save Friday as your walking day and rack up your steps then.
April 5 - 8
Did you know that the prevalence of overweight among children and adolescents
has doubled in the last twenty years and tripled over the past forty years? Research shows that overweight children are
more likely to become overweight adults and, therefore, are at greater
risk for associated health problems. In fact, 60 percent of overweight
five - to - ten year old children already have at least one risk factor
for heart disease.
Implement the same healthy diet (rich in fruits,
vegetables and grains) for your entire family, not just for selected individuals.
Eat meals together at the dinner table at regular times. Avoid rushing
to finish meals and remember to turn off the TV during mealtimes.
Unhealthy eating & physical inactivity, together, can result in overweight
or obese children. Research indicates that excess weight
and physical inactivity put children at risk for chronic diseases, such
as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, some cancers and asthma.
In addition, 50% of overweight adolescents are more likely to become obese
as adults. Help your children have better eating habits by providing breakfast
everyday, even when you are in a rush!! Make simple choices such as; yogurt,
toast, cereal with non-fat milk or fruit. Encourage children to play hard
for at least 30 to 60 minutes a day or check the local YMCAs and schools
for exercise programs.
* Take a leading role in your child’s health
set goals and help them succeed! Poor diets and physical inactivity were
responsible for 400,000 deaths in the United States in 2000 and cost California
an estimated $7.7 billion (medical expenditures).
There are some recent studies that have linked sleep, appetite and obesity.
Overweight subjects who slept less, had lower levels
of leptin, a hormone that acts on the central nervous system to
suppress food intake and stimulate energy expenditure, and higher
levels of ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates appetite, fat production
and body growth. Those who were sleep deprived also had more cravings
for high carb foods.
(As Americans, our hectic lives have led us to sleep less, and we have
grown fatter!)
For the whole family:
* Maintain regular bed and wake time, including weekends. (Kids from 5
to 12 years need 10 to 11 hours of sleep each night)
* Establish regular, relaxing bedtime routines.
* Finish eating at least two to three hours before your regular bedtime.
* Exercise regularly.
* Avoid caffeine and alcohol close to bedtime.
* Avoid nicotine.
March 21 - 25
According to reseachers from the University of Massachusetts and the University
of South Carolina, if you're among those who skip breakfast, you're enjoying
a 4.5 times greater risk of becoming obese than people who regularly partake
of that vital morning meal. Breakfast skippers end up consuming higher
total daily calories than those who spend a few quality moments with their
favorite sugar-free cereal.
Studies also revealed that frequently eating out in the morning generates
more than twice the risk of obesity than dining at home. Researchers recommend
that you break your fast each day at your own kitchen table.
March 11 - 18
To cut calories from a meal, start with a low-fat
salad. In a recent study at Pennsylvania State University, people
who ate three cups of low-fat salad before lunch ended up eating 12% fewer
calories at the entire meal than those skipping the salad. The key is to
avoid high-fat dressings and cheese, and to load up on greens and veggies,
such as carrots, tomatoes, celery, and cucumbers. Low-calorie dressings
are okay, but ask for the dressing on the side, as in this study. More good
news: such a three-cup salad will provide at least three of the five to
nine servings of produce you should eat daily.
March 7 - 11
Another reason to avoid Type 2 Diabetes: it may
increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease by 65%, according
to a recent study of 824 nuns and priests (average age of 75) in the Archives
of Neurology. Two earlier studies found that diabetes doubles the risk
of Alzheimer's and other research has shown that it can impair cognitive
function and memory.
February 25- 28
If you have high blood triglycerides, consider adding
flaxseeds, walnuts, and canola oil to your diet. They are rich
in an omega - 3 fat called alpha-linolenic acid, which appears to lower
triglyceride levels, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood
Institute Family Heart Study. Research has shown that alpha-linolenic
acid helps protect the heart, though it has never been explained how.
So this study provides one likely reason: by reducing triglycerides, alpha-linolenic
acid could lower the risk of heart disease. But watch out for the extra
calories - weight gain could cancel out the beneficial effect.
February 21- 25
To lower your blood cholesterol, consider drinking
sterol-fortified orange juice (one brand is Minute Maid's Heart
Wise OJ). This contains the same kind of plant compounds found in special
cholesterol-lowering margarines, such as Benecol. In a recent study from
the University of California, Davis, people who drank a cup of the juice
with breakfast and dinner for eight weeks lowered their LDL ("bad")
cholesterol by 13%, on average. Watch out for the calories, however: two
cups supply 220 calories a day. Don't pay a premium for the "healthy
heart" claims of the other types of OJ that are merely fortified
with vitamin E, extra C, and B vitamins. There's no evidence that such
juice will protect your heart.
February 14 - 18
Another reason to avoid trans fat, found
in many packaged foods and fast foods: not only does it raise LDL ("bad")
cholesterol and lower HDL ("good") cholesterol, it also increases
inflammation in the body, according to a recent study of 823 nurses. Chronic
low-grade inflammation is an important player in cardiovascular disease.
Weight also affects inflammation levels, as was seen in another study
in the same issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. In a
group of overweight or obese people over 60, those who lost weight via
calorie reduction significantly reduced inflammation levels.
February 7 - 11
If you are taking a cholesterol-lowering drug, it's
still important to stick to a healthy diet and exercise. It's not
an "either/or" decision. Studies show that diet can enhance
the effects of the medication. In addition, heart disease is a complex
problem, and cholesterol is only one important factor affecting it. A
diet rich in fruits, whole grains, and vegetables, together with exercise,
can help you avoid obesity, diabetes and hypertension, all of which can
contribute to heart disease, even if your cholesterol levels are good |
