DIETITIAN'S DESK
Nobody wants to be poor as health editor, Eulalee Thompson, stated in her column of September 24. Poverty is associated with ill health and other undesirable issues.
It is amazing that although abject poverty is obviously associated with ill health, varying degrees of poverty can be just as grave. According to Harvard University researchers, based on 40 years of US census data, the person earning below an income level of US$36,000 a year in 2000 had a 64 per cent higher risk of early death than those in households earning more than US$101,000.
Mortality rates
The ground-breaking Whitehall-1 study started by Marmot and his team in 1967, investigated the social determinants of health, specifically cardiorespiratory disease prevalence and mortality rates among male British civil servants in the age group 20-64. The second phase included women and investigated the age group 35-55. These studies revealed that men with relatively similar working conditions in the same type of job, similar health habits and access to care were separated by their mortality based on where they were on the hierarchical ladder.
The Whitehall-1 study found that lower grades (status) were associated with greater risk for obesity, smoking, less leisure time, less physical activity and higher blood pressure. In the lowest grade of work, there was a three-time greater mortality rate than those at the highest grade.
Ongoing research
This debunked the myth that people in higher status jobs would have increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, possibly associated with stress and that in industrialised countries, the gradient seen in health was associated with the better opportunities which were available to those higher on the social ladder and less for those lower down on the rung. There is ongoing research to unravel this mystery.
The World Health Organisation has a commission on social determinants of health, chaired by Professor Sir Michael Marmot, which seeks to investigate how social organisation affects health and to identify how the conditions under which people work and live could be improved.
Actions to fight back
A 2008 Cambridge study published in the Journal of Public Library of Science Medicine which looked at 20,244 men and women between ages 45-79 living in the same English county, reinforces the importance of healthy habits.
The participation in four common healthy habits - exercise, moderate alcohol use, daily fruit and vegetable intake and abstention from tobacco were investigated in the study. After 11 years of follow up, those who engaged in none of the healthy behaviours were four times as likely to die as those who did. The researchers concluded that practising these habits was equivalent to being 14 years younger chronologically.
So, how do you add more fruits and vegetables? The goal should be five or more servings per day of varying colours, prepared with limited fat and sodium and not over-cooked, where cooking is necessary.
Cooked vegetables at breakfast
You should increase cooked vegetables and reduce staples where it is consumed in excess, and have a large green salad at least at your main meal. You can have a green salad with a serving of protein as a light meal; vegetable stir-fries, stews, curries , soups, and so on. You can also have fruit and vegetable juices (with little or no sugar added); fruits in cereal; fruits as snacks and dried fruits in trail mixes.
Make a daily effort and you will eventually achieve your goal.
Rosalee M. Brown is a registered dietitian/nutritionist who operates Integrated Nutrition and Health Services; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.
Fight back the negative impact of poverty on your health by eating adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables - file
