Lifestyle change improves CVD

Lifestyle change is directly related to improving cardio vascular health of individuals (Sodjinou et al., 2008) and this specifically valid when studying lower socioeconomic status individuals. Dietary habits have been linked to improve cardiovascular health in a lot of past research, and a lifestyle dietary change would be eating more fruits and vegetables. It may seem like a simple step but implementing may not be as easy, especially if considering some cuisines that don’t include use of fruits and vegetables. Guthrie, Lin, Reed, Stewart (2005) report that family, culture and economic conditions are major determinants in choice of eating more fruits and vegetables. The articles also highlights that Asian Americans choose more fruits, vegetables compared to others and this choice also depends upon the individuals in the household.

In the article ‘understanding economic and behavioral influences on fruit and vegetable choices’ by Guthrie, Lin, Reed, Stewart (2005) the authors highlight how the choice of fruits, vegetables consumption are driven by behavioral, economic conditions and what are the effects of these choices of daily life. They write that a survey shows 70% of Americans believe that their diets would be healthier if they added fruits and vegetables to their daily food. Despite all the numbers, Americans are still not consuming enough fruits and vegetables. The article reports that consumption of diet rich in fruits and vegetables is associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, some cancers and other chronic diseases.

Research has shown that the population from lower socioeconomic status is the one that is lowest in consumption of fruits and vegetables (Ball, Crawford, Mishra, 2006) with some findings showing that women maybe on a lower scale. Blanchette, Brug (2005) suggests that to improve the numbers for children eating fruits an vegetables, interventions with multimedia, school based education to improve their taste preferences. Five tips to would suggest to a population to support them to adhere to the lifestyle change would be:

1. To look for local farmers as then the prices of buying, consuming fruits and vegetables would be much lower.
2. Use the modern technology of internet and get great ideas to cook, serve and eat vegetables, fruits for meals and snacks.
3. Be open to trying new cuisines and try different local restaurants if dine out with friends. Today the US is do diverse and to reach out to neighbors to exchange different dishes if living in an ethnically diverse community.
4. Frequent grocery shopping trips help keep fruits and vegetables on hand.
5. Intervention techniques that aim at improving health should include fruits and vegetables consumption benefits literature.

References

Blanchette, L., & Brug, J. (2005). Determinants of fruit and vegetable consumption among 6–12‐year‐old children and effective interventions to increase consumption. Journal of human nutrition and dietetics, 18(6), 431-443.

Guthrie, J. F., Lin, B. H., Reed, J., & Stewart, H. (2005). Understanding economic and behavioral influences on fruit and vegetable choices. Amber Waves, 3(2), 36-41.

Sodjinou, R., Agueh, V., Fayomi, B., & Delisle, H. (2008). Obesity and cardio-metabolic risk factors in urban adults of Benin: relationship with socio-economic status, urbanisation, and lifestyle patterns. BMC Public Health, 8(1), 84.