Exercising good choices will remedy some illnesses

Exercising good choiceswill remedy some illnesses
The good news is, area health officials met recently to continue their efforts to win a $1 million federal grant to counter three chronic diseases in the Valley.
The bad news is, their efforts are necessary at all, given the fact that studies prove the diseases -- obesity, diabetes and asthma, while potentially deadly, are often avoidable. They are illnesses that are found in low incidence in individuals with high regard for their bodies, exhibited by their wise lifestyle choices.
In this day and age of information at our fingertips, who on this planet doesn't know the connection between a healthful lifestyle and better health? That smoking and the incidence of asthma and lung cancer are no coincidence? That overeating takes its toll on your body, your life?
The facts
Smoke, including passive smoke, is among the frequently diagnosed causes of asthma. Obesity-related medical conditions include diabetes, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure and osteoarthritis, as well as a higher risk factor for many types of cancer.
Additionally, studies show that Americans at high risk for adult onset diabetes, known as Type 2 diabetes, can sharply lower their chances of getting the disease with a low-fat diet and daily exercise.
Admittedly, there are plenty of individuals who are predisposed to disease. There are, indeed, those afflicted with unexplained, uncontrollable obesity. There are many undeserving, unsuspecting patients struggling with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases who never held a cigarette in their lips. Many a diabetic has led a healthy life, only to be sentenced to a lifetime of insulin dependency and concern for future heart, eye, feet and kidney complications.
These are people who were dealt a daily battle against disease because of risk factors beyond their control, a battle that others foolishly ask for through unhealthy eating and lack of exercise.
Not what it appears
We not talking about appearance. There are too many obsessed with looks, with what's on the outside. It's what's on the inside that truly matters ... healthy, vital organs nourished by a well-balanced diet and maintained by regular exercise. You really are what you eat, and if your diet is suffering, so are your organs. So are you.
Our fingers are crossed that the Valley will be one of the eleven areas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will choose from an estimated 200 urban areas that submitted proposals for grants. We're all for it, if the better access to nutrition information and exercise facilities, information about risk factors and chronic disease prevention, and chronic disease support groups improves the state of health of the residents of the Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
However, there is plenty of information on preventive health care that is already out there for the taking. Take it. Use it. Exercise common sense, and the grants can go to those whose state of health is truly out of their control, not for those whose willpower is all that's out of control.
Perhaps someday better lifestyle choices made by Valley residents will negate the need for such a grant, or at the very least, decrease the size of the population in need of it. Then, the money can go to help those whose genes have contributed more than their habits to the state of their health.