This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 11th, 2009 at 11:33 pm and is filed under Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Some researchers are surprised to find that Recessionary times do not necessarily lead to unhealthier lifestyles. The common assumption is that as fitness club memberships drop off due to financial restraints, and as dining out switches to fast food outlets from fine dining establishments for similar reasons, that health suffers.
The picture is of an overweight population that is growing rapidly in numbers due to loss of active lifestyles, and a switch to diets increasingly devoted to fatty, greasy, salt laden foods. With obesity, of course, come health concerns.
However, obesity need not necessarily be the result of financially induced lifestyle changes. Walking, jogging and playing sports with friends do not require a health club or a personal trainer. Saving money by cutting back on expensive restauants does not mean you have to increase your patronage of “burger joints.” You might instead eat more at home. And if you choose to eat more at home you do not necessarily have to choose fatty, greasy, salt laden foods.
The choice, of course, is yours. If you can’t afford to go out as much as you once did, you could choose to “veg out” in front of the TV. On the other hand, you might also choose to take longer walks with the dog, tackle some of that oft procrastianted yard work, take up gardening, or do more with the kids. Instead of pasta for all major meals, you might want to experiment with more fruits and vegetables. Dig out that old pressure cooker and try out that recipe for fish chowder. Start canning your own garden produce.
There are lots of choices, and one of those choices is the choosing of a healthier lifestyle. That is what is surprising those aforementioned researchers. Many people are doing just that. For those of us who are striving to cope with Recessionary times, that is a choice that we can make as well. If you are sitting, watching another of those reruns on TV while digging into your 5th bag of potato chips, you might want to give that some very serious consideration.