September 8, 2005

Now is Good Time to Improve Diet, Exercise More

If you’ve been wanting to improve your diet and get more exercise, you have a little incentive.

North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven proclaimed September to be 5+5 Month.

The 5+5 Program encourages North Dakotans to eat fruits and vegetables five times a day as part of a high-fiber, low-fat diet and do at least 30 minutes of physical activity five days a week.

“Our food and physical activity choices can affect how we feel now and can have a major impact on our health in the future,” says Julie Garden-Robinson, North Dakota State University Extension Service food and nutrition specialist.

Evidence indicates that North Dakotan adults are falling short of the recommendations for a healthy lifestyle. For example:

• The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) shows that in 2004, 21.3 percent of adults did not participate in any physical activities during the month before they were surveyed.
• The BRFSS shows that in 2003, 78.5 percent of adults ate fewer than five servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
• 62 percent of adults are overweight or obese, up from 47 percent in 1990.

Youths aren’t making the grade, either. The 2003 North Dakota Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that:

• 82.7 percent of students in grades nine through 12 and 76.5 percent in grades seven and eight ate fewer than five servings of fruits and vegetables per day.
• 31.4 percent of students in grades nine through 12 and 15.5 percent in grades seven and eight weren’t doing moderate physical activity.
• Almost 28 percent of students in grades seven and eight and 20 percent in grades nine through 12 were overweight or at risk of becoming overweight.

The North Dakota Department of Health and NDSU Extension Service are sponsoring a program called 5 + 5 Communities. It promotes a communitywide approach to improving citizens’ eating and physical activity habits.

The program raises awareness of the possible consequences of poor choices and improves people’s access to good nutrition and opportunities for physical activities. That might include providing safe places for people to walk, jog or ride a bike, and encouraging school and workplace cafeterias to provide food choices that are healthy and appealing.

Nineteen North Dakota cities have been designated 5 + 5 communities.

For a step-by-step approach to developing community-based nutrition and physical activity programs, check out the NDSU Extension Service Web site at www.ext.nodak.edu/food/5plus5/5plus5.pdf. For information on food and nutrition, visit the Web site www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/food.htm. To learn the kinds and amounts of foods you should be eating for your age, gender and level of physical activity, go to the Web site www.MyPyramid.gov.

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Source: Julie Garden-Robinson, (701) 231-7187, jgardenr@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Ellen Crawford, (701) 231-5391, ecrawfor@ndsuext.nodak.edu

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