Now that the holidays are here let’s enjoy them, but keep in mind our own health. And yes, we can do both with a little bit of oomph in our holidays.

Heart Disease is still one of the top killers in America and there is much we can do to keep ourselves healthy, even over the holidays. Let’s try and eat the best we can and try to fit in some exercise.

For those concerned about death from cardiovascular disease, heart experts have some good news: Regular exercise, a healthy diet and five other simple measures can cut one’s near term risk of death by more than half. Yes, that right, more than half! Yes, we can have an impact on our own health! Let’s remember this over the holidays.

And here’s the bad news: In a nationwide study of more than 17,820 adults, only two met all of the criteria for top-notch cardiovascular health.

The message of the study, presented recently at an American Heart Assn. conference in Chicago, is clear, said Dr. Mark Urman, medical director of Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute’s Preventive and Consultative Heart Center.

“Boy, most Americans aren’t very healthy,” said Urman, who wasn’t involved in the research. However, he added, “on a more positive note, the study confirms that individuals can take control of their health. Incremental changes can make a huge difference.”

The changes, dubbed Life’s Simple Seven, were laid out in January as part of an American Heart Assn. campaign to guide people toward “ideal cardiovascular health.” They include:

• At least 150 minutes of moderate exercise, or 75 minutes of intense exercise, a week.

• Having a body mass index of less than 25.

• Being a nonsmoker for at least one year.

• Meeting four out of five of the association’s key components for a healthy diet.

• Keeping total cholesterol below 200 milligrams per deciliter of blood.

• Maintaining blood pressure below 120/80 millimeters of mercury.

• Having a fasting blood sugar level below 100 mg/dL of blood.

“These are the sorts of things your grandmother told you,” said Dr. Mary Cushman, a cardiovascular disease researcher at the University of Vermont, who conducted the study.

Cushman used a database of people between 45 and 84 who were already enrolled in a nationwide study on the prevalence of stroke. All of the participants had been evaluated for the factors that make up the seven criteria.

Two individuals met all seven, while 213 people were compliant with six.

Death rates for those who met at least five criteria were 55% lower over the five-year study period than for those who met none, Cushman said.

The analysis showed how much each factor mattered, for every additional criteria met, a person reduced by 15% the chance of dying in the next four years.

“That tells how powerful these things relate to heart disease risk,” Cushman said. “Being as good as you can be on all of these factors is what your goal should be.”

Americans are most compliant when it comes to maintaining healthy blood pressure and abstaining from smoking. More than 80% of those in the survey were nonsmokers, and almost 67% were in the ideal range for blood pressure, Cushman said.

On the flip side, eating a healthy diet had the fewest adherents, only 0.43% of study participants managed to do so.

The ideal diet requires meeting four of five key components based on a 2,000 calories a day meal plan: 41/2 cups of fruits and vegetables a day; two or more 3.5-ounce servings of fish (preferably oily fish) a day; fewer than 450 calories a week of sugar-sweetened beverages; three or more 1-ounce servings a day of whole grains; and less than 1,500 mg of sodium a day.

Cushman couldn’t identify the two people whose score was perfect. “It would be interesting to go back and talk to them,” she said, to see how they live so healthfully.

I know, 2,000 calories a day might be a tall order, but how about some exercise between those larger meals? Just a thought.

An article I read last month by Jeannie Stein of the Los Angeles Times, describes some negative effects of watching TV. I have noticed myself that the more I find time for some form of exercise, the less time I have for watching television and it looks like that is a good thing.

Watching television for hour upon hour obviously isn’t the best way to spend leisure time. Inactivity has been linked to obesity and heart disease. But a new study quantifies TV viewing’s effect on risk of death.

Researchers found that each hour a day spent watching TV was linked with an 18% greater risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, an 11% greater risk of all causes of death, and a 9% increased risk of death from cancer.

As the article stated, researchers found a statistical relationship between long hours of TV viewing and a shortened life span, but the study did not go so far as to find a direct cause.

A journal of the American Heart Assn., looked at health data among 8,800 men and women older than 25 who were part of the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study. Participants recorded their television viewing hours for a week, and researchers separated the results by amount of viewing: those who watched less than two hours of TV a day, those who watched two to four hours a day, and those who watched more than four hours a day.

Researchers found a strong connection between TV hours and death from cardiovascular disease, not just among the overweight and obese, but among people who had a healthy weight and exercised.

“What we showed was that irrespective of a person’s exercise level, sitting for four or more hours watching television was linked to a significant increase in risk of death compared to watching lower amounts of TV,” said Dr. David Dunstan, lead author of the study and professor and head of the Physical Activity Laboratory at the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Victoria, Australia. “The message here is that in addition to promoting regular exercise, we also need to promote avoiding long periods of sitting, such as spending long hours in front of the computer screen.”

To him, the results weren’t unexpected. “When we’re in that sitting posture, we’re not using our muscles, and we know from extensive evidence that muscle contractions are important for the body’s regulatory processes, such as the ability to break down glucose and use it as energy.”

Dr. Prediman K. Shah, director of the cardiology division of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, agreed. He pointed out that muscles become deconditioned when not used, triggering harmful physiological changes. “If your activity is slowing down, you metabolize cholesterol less and synthesize it more,” he said.

Even sporadic exercisers who sit for long periods need to increase their daily activity.

“The physical activity we do over a 24-hour period is important,” says Dr. Gerald F. Fletcher, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., and a spokesman for the American Heart Assn.

That means taking the stairs instead of the elevator, gardening, walking the dog . . .

“For couch potatoes, sitting on your duff is hazardous to your health,” Shah said. “The bottom line is keep moving.”

I live in Los Angeles.  I just read that  over half (55%) of LA County’s adult population are either overweight or obese. (You can read this too at www.lapublichealth.org.) We all know that there are many whom are overweight, but half of our local population? I’m still in shock.  On the other hand, countless articles have cited that obesity is “the great American public-health problem”.  This gets me thinking – if obesity is the leading cause of chronic disease (heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, high blood pressure, stroke, and some types of cancer) then where does this weigh in on the health care debate, and why aren’t we doing more to prevent it?

Dr. Christine Olson, a professor of community nutrition at Cornell University (www.cornell.edu) recently published research citing that a mother’s weight gain during pregnancy has a direct association with the weight of her child in early life.  After following more than 200 mothers and children, Olson found that if the mother gained more than the recommended 25-35 pounds during pregnancy, her child was more likely to be overweight at age three. Yes, that’s age three.

Let’s pick up the thread and follow this would-be three year old. Her Mom, after a hard day’s work, fights traffic to pick up her daughter from  day-care.  On the way home, Mom stops for fast food.  After all, the kid is hungry and the convenience and low cost is alluring. (Plus, there’s the toy that comes with the meal.) The fast-food habit kicks in, and the food preferences take hold of the kid.  Fast forward to this same child now in school. Physical education has been  reduced  (and in some schools, completely eliminated.) The kid goes to the school’s cafeteria, where she is offered more available high-fat, low-fiber foods and sweetened drinks. In her neighborhood, the community has reduced sidewalks and areas for physical activity. After-school programs at parks are no longer offered. There is little that promotes recreation by walking or cycling. Mom and Dad, often at work, rely on the television and/or computer to keep the kid entertained. Furthermore, the contents of their refrigerator reflect the simple truth of the dollar:  the real price of soda has fallen 33 percent over the last three decades. The real price of fruit and vegetables has risen more than 40 percent. So it’s Coke and Pepsi that line the shelves. And I wondered why obesity is a national epidemic?

There is a clinical word for a way to help rectify our wrongs: “Population-Based Prevention of Obesity”.  A new, comprehensive, population-based strategy published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association ( www.americanheart.org) recommends broad policy and environmental strategies that can help people adopt healthy behaviors, like being physically active and eating right. What does this mean? We begin to see the obesity problem as one that affects all of us and we take civic action to change it.  After all, we not only tax tobacco, we don’t even allow smoking in many public areas. Yet when I visit Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, there is Mickey D’s in plain view right on the first floor. Should we tax soda?  Obesity-provoking cafeteria meals? Instead of government debating taxes back and forth, it would be wildly refreshing to see true change. The incentive should be repeated again and again: to a large degree, we control the future of our own health. J. Michael McGinnis, a senior scholar at theInstitute of Medicine has estimated that only 10 percent of early deaths are the result of substandard medical care. About 20 percent stem from social and physical environments, and 30 percent from genetics. The biggest contributor, at 40 percent, is behavior.

Here at www.oomphtv.com we profile those over forty who are doing amazing things with their lives. A 94 year old runner, a trapeze artist in her late forties, an engaged full-time teacher who is still going strong in her late eighties. All of our storytellers thus far have had the blessings of good health. Let’s hope we can all help tip the balance toward healthy, active children so that the younger generation has just as much oomph! as their elders.