Why Strike It Healthy®?

Major chronic diseases…There are major chronic diseases associated with the way we eat and our physical activity habits. These diseases include:

-Heart disease
-Cancer
-Hypertension
-Stroke
-Type II Diabetes
-Obesity

Health issues and Strike It Healthy®---what’s the connection?

Here’s the connection… Strike It Healthy® Weight and Health Management Systems, LLC is committed to help all of us prevent and/or manage these chronic diseases. These programs and services are designed to assist us in aiming for healthy ranges in:

1. Weight
2. Blood Pressure
3. Body Mass Index
4. Waist & Hip Ratio
5. Cholesterol
6. Glucose
7. Waist & Height Ratio

also…
We should not smoke or misuse or abuse alcohol or drugs

The ticket is for us to incorporate easy concepts into our lives so we will maintain safer and healthier behaviors for the rest of our lives---while remembering not to be obsessive. Dr. Pasqualoni’s truly believes that “It’s not about being perfect, it’s about being healthier.”

Health Concerns:
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, “Today, chronic diseases—such as cardiovascular disease (primarily heart disease and stroke), cancer, and diabetes—are among the most prevalent, costly, and preventable of all health problems.”

Note: Strike It Healthy® Volume I- presents a detailed segment with 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional images to help us learn important information about major chronic diseases. Visit Health Programs and Product and Services pages for more information.

Snapshot View of Major Chronic Diseases:
The following provides quick statistics of major chronic diseases obtained from the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control, National Center for Health Statistics. (2006). Available at: www.cdc.gov/nchs.

Heart Disease - affects 1 in 3 people

Cancer - affects 1 in 2 women and 1 in 2 men

Hypertension - affects 1 in 3 people, with another 30% being pre-hypertensive

Stroke - affects 700,000 people annually

Diabetes - approximately 9% of adults, with another 41 million being pre-diabetic

Obesity - 66% of adults are considered overweight, with approximately 32% being obese
- 13.9% of children ages 2 to 5 are considered overweight
- 18.8% of children ages 6 to 11 are considered overweight
- 17.4% of children ages 12 to 19 are considered overweight

What can we do?
Simply stated, we need “to improve our health behaviors so that more of us are eating better and become more active.”

For example the latest statistics show that:

- less than 33% of Americans consume at least two servings of fruit a day [reference 1]

- less than 28% consume at least three servings of vegetables a day [reference 1]

- less than 18% exercise regularly [reference 2]

Dr. Pasqualoni emphasizes that we need to practice healthier and safer lifestyle habits. “We can start by asking each other, if we’ve had our FVGs (fruits, vegetables, and whole grains) for the day.” Based on the statistics above, being aware of our FVGs can improve our nation’s nutritional behaviors statistics, but most of all this can help improve our health on various levels.

Dr. Pasqualoni also wants us to recognize that it’s not just about our weight---it’s about making changes to promote healthier ranges in cholesterol, blood pressure, and glucose levels---to name just a few. The benefits in pursuing healthier lifestyle habits come over time. As we all know, it takes time for us to gain weight, and therefore we need to recognize that it is healthy to take time to lose weight. And we also need to remember that our weight may be in healthy ranges, but if we’re not practicing healthy habits, then we can be placing ourselves at-risk.

Dr. Pasqualoni has worked diligently to develop the Strike It Healthy® Volume I (adult or family version), which provides excellent ways to learn about evidence-based information and behavioral skills to help us change our health habits. This program emphasizes the importance of taking steps today to improve our health for the short and long-term.

References:

[1] Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. (2007). Fruit and vegetable consumption among adults – United States, 2005. United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

[2] National Center for Health Statistics. (2007). Physical activity among adults: United States, 2000 and 2005. United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Available at: www.cdc.gov/nchs.