Taking positive steps today means healthy adults tomorrow

Diseases of lifestyle, or non-communicable diseases, are fast becoming the leading causes of death in the world. This reality can be summarised as 3-4-60. Formulated by leading researchers at Oxford, their research demonstrated that three behaviours cause four diseases of lifestyle, which together account for up to 60% of global deaths. The researchers’ original formulation was 3-4-50; the increase demonstrates the astounding impact these three simple behaviours have on health and how much more significant these behaviours have become over the years.

Formulating 3-4-60

The three behaviours in question are smoking, physical inactivity, and unhealthy diet including alcohol abuse. These three lifestyle behaviours contribute to four chronic diseases of lifestyle: certain cancers, heart disease, lung disease, and diabetes which contribute to 60% of deaths globally.

According to Discovery Vitality’s Healthy Active Kids South Africa (HAKSA) report, the current generation of children is the first to have a shorter life expectancy than the previous generation. The reasons for this are many and varied, but the role of unhealthy diets and lack of physical exercise is undeniable. It is also important to recognise the impact parents’ smoking has on children: second-hand smoke has been shown to be as dangerous as smoking itself.

Help your kids know the healthy choices

One of the most significant ways for parents to influence their children is to lead by example. Here are some great tips to help improve your physical activity, diet, and smoking habits to also improve the health of your children:

Make your house a healthy zone. Researchers have demonstrated the all-important effect of your surrounding spaces on your health. For instance, putting fat-free milk at eye level in the fridge and making fruit juices less accessible in the back of the fridge will encourage you to make the healthy choice of milk over fruit juice. Other tips include:
- Put fresh fruit on a well-lit surface in a well-used part of the kitchen. This will encourage you and your family to choose fruit over other snacks.
- You don’t have to throw away sweets and other less healthy foods, but hide them away. Making sweets and chocolates less accessible will reduce the amount you eat.
- Shape your house and kitchen so that the healthiest options are the ones you see first. Put the healthiest foods at eye level in the fridge and pantry so that when you go looking for a snack, these are what you see first. This will help you choose these options.
Step it up, just a little, every day. When it comes to physical activity, it can be tough to get to the gym or to lace up those running shoes to get on the road. But you don’t necessarily need structured exercise to get the benefit of increasing your heart rate. There are some easy and fun ways to increase your step count and improve your health:
- Park further away from the entrance so you have to walk further to your destination.
- Carry your shopping rather than using a trolley.
- Take a walk up the stairs instead of using the elevator or escalator.
- Locate a bathroom a little further away than your closest one, so you have to walk further every time you go to the bathroom.
- Stand and chat when you’re on the phone.
- Choose to take a walk to your colleague instead of phoning or emailing.
- Take your kids for a walk with the dogs and explore the neighbourhood on nice days.
- Take your kids to parkrun on Saturday mornings with friends and family to enjoy an active start to the weekend.
Stop smoking. You know that smoking is bad for you and for your children.
You know that smoking is bad for you and for your children. With Vitality’s great smoking quitting partners there’s support for you to stop smoking. Invest in your health and your children’s future health by stopping now.

Small, positive steps towards health today will give you and your children all the benefits of good health in future. Make healthy choices now and avoid becoming part of the 3-4-60 statistics.

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