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Healthy Aging By Sharon Johnson Obesity, poor diet affect our longevity With the holidays approaching, I feel a need to write about seasonal eating. The succulent skin of a roasted turkey beckons me. My favorite Thanksgiving food is aromatic, warm-from-the-oven apple pie. Actually, my honest-to-goodness, cannot-resist-it favorite is turkey dressing with pecans. Lately, I have been introduced to the idea of steaming those little decorative pumpkins (for exactly 17 minutes) and filling them with sweet potatoes, brown sugar and butter. Luscious. Seasonal eating is upon us. Now is the time to indulge in the foods that we think about all year long. It is clearly not the best time to diet. However, my husband, learning that his cholesterol was "outside the acceptable range," has decided to do just that - eat less. If he eats less, I feel like I want to eat more. And often when he is eating lightly, that is exactly what I do. I eat more - lots more. I could not find any scientific research on the subject. However, in personal testimony, I can attest to its truth. I see my husband being disciplined about his eating and I react in the form of second helpings. I see him decline a dessert and I want his. I want him to have a cholesterol reading he can be proud of - and I absolutely want him to reduce his risk of cardiac problems and diabetes, but I wish the timing were different. Eating appears to be an Oregon passion. It appears we eat more (and move less) than people in many other states. Fifty-five percent of people in this state are overweight or obese. When formally surveyed, more than 15 percent of people in the Rogue Valley say their health is "fair or poor," a notably larger percentage than some other areas of the country. Obesity is most often defined as 20 percent or more over ideal body weight. If I am ideally supposed to weigh 135 pounds, I could be considered obese if I swelled to a weight of 162 pounds. I can quickly calculate that undisciplined helpings of turkey dressing with pecans might get me right up to the edge of obesity. Being fat and out of shape has a name. According to a professor at the University of Missouri, Columbia, it is called sedentary death syndrome or SeDS. Being fat (not necessarily obese) and inactive raises the risk of several fatal diseases. Heart attacks, stroke, diabetes and sometimes even cancer are linked with being overweight. So, what's a girl to do? Turkey is fine - without the skin, of course. For Thanksgiving, I could prepare baked apples with a little cinnamon. It would offer the same aroma as that apple pie. Maybe I could fill those little decorative pumpkins with seasoned squash, minus the butter and brown sugar. The pecan dressing is the tricky one. One helping seems like a good compromise. Every decision we make in a day affects our health - and often the health of those around us. Every decision. Hold the pecans. Sharon Johnson is an assistant professor in family and community development at OSU Extension and a member of the Senior Advisory Council. Reach her at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.