American Cancer Society Guidelines on Nutrition and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention

To help you make healthier choices and stay well, the American Cancer Society has developed recommendations for nutrition and physical activity based on the latest scientific research.

Recommendations for individual choices
1. Stay at a healthy weight throughout life.

• Balance caloric intake with physical activity.
• Avoid excessive weight gain throughout your life.
• Get to and stay at a healthy weight if you are overweight or obese.

2. Adopt a physically active lifestyle.

• Adults: Get at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity, in addition to your daily activities, on 5 or more days per week; 45 minutes to 60 minutes of intentional activity on 5 or more days per week is preferred.
• Children and adolescents: Get 60 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous physical activity at least 5 days per week.

3. Eat a healthy diet, with an emphasis on plant sources.

• Choose foods and beverages in amounts that help you get to and stay at a healthy weight.
• Eat 5 or more servings of a variety of vegetables and fruits each day.
• Choose whole grains over processed (refined) grains and sugars.
• Limit your intake of processed and red meats.

 

 

4. If you drink alcoholic beverages, set limits.

• Drink no more than 1 drink per day for women or 2 per day for men.
• m A drink is 12 ounces of regular beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 11/2 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits.

Have fun and be fit.

You can be active by walking briskly, swimming, gardening, doing housework, and even dancing! The more you do, the better it is for your health. If you have children, be active with them.

Moderate activity is anything that makes you breathe as hard as you do during a brisk walk. During moderate activities, you'll notice a slight increase in heart rate and breathing, but you probably won't break a sweat. Moderate activities might include dancing, doubles tennis, or pushing a lawn mower.

Vigorous activities are performed at a higher intensity. They cause an increased heart rate, sweating, and a faster breathing rate. Examples include jogging, singles tennis, digging, and other heavy manual labor.

Activities that improve strength and flexibility, such as weight lifting, stretching, or yoga, are also beneficial.

• If you haven't been active, you should start with moderate activities and slowly increase the duration, frequency, and intensity as you become more fit. Work your way up to 30 minutes or more, 5 or more days a week.
• If you are active but want to do more, increase the intensity, duration, or frequency of what you currently do. Moderate to vigorous activity for 45 minutes or more on 5 or more days a week will increase your health benefits.
• If you are active and want to stay at your current fitness level, try adding new activities to your routine to use different muscles and keep your interest.

Choose your game

It's important to enjoy what you're doing so you won't get bored or think of physical activity as a chore. To help you choose the activity that's right for you, ask yourself these questions:

Do you like to be social, or would you prefer time to yourself?

• Social butterflies should try activities that connect them withother people. Try walking with friends, joining a team orrecreation association, or going line-dancing.
• If you need time to yourself, walking, running, swimming, or gardening can give you time to reflect.

Do you need to get energized or wind down?

• For an energy boost, try aerobic activities that get the heart pumping.
• Reduce stress with activities like yoga or tai chi.

Are you goal-oriented, or do you like to stay flexible?

• If you like to feel a sense of accomplishment, choose activities where you can chart and monitor your progress like training for a run, or taking up an activity with increasing skill levels, like martial arts.
• For a flexible routine, try walking or finding an exercise video you can do at home.

Do you want to get away from it all or get involved?

• If you want to get away, choose outdoor activities like hiking, biking, or rollerblading.

To get involved in the community, consider building homes for the disadvantaged, taking part in charily walks and runs, helping an elderly neighbor with yard work, or tidying up a local school.

Active SUbstititutions

Don't think you have time to add physical activity to your day? Consider simple substitutions. Think about how much time you spend sitting, versus being active. Are there ways to replace sitting with moving? For instance:

• Use the stairs instead of the elevator.
• Walk or bike to your destination.
• Be active at lunch with your co-workers, family, or friends.
• Take a 20-minute activity break at work to stretch, or take a quick walk.
• Walk to visit co-workers instead of sending an email message.
• Go dancing with your spouse or friends.
• Plan active vacations, rather than driving trips.
• Wear a pedometer every day to increase your steps.
• Join a sports or recreation team.
• Plan your activity routine to slowly increase the days per week and minutes per session.

Whether you set aside time to exercise or do short bursts of activity throughout your day, the most important thing is to get up and get moving.

Strike a balance.

Ads for expensive exercise equipment and special diets can make healthy living look complicated. But the truth is there's no secret to getting to a healthy weight. It is as simple as balancing the calories you eat with the calories you burn. When that doesn't happen, you gain weight.

Remember that everything you eat contains calories, and everything you do uses calories. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds and are active, you need 2,250 calories per day to maintain this weight, versus 1,950 calories if you are sedentary.

It helps to know that one pound of body fat equals 3,500 calories. That means that to lose 1 pound per week, you need to create a "deficit" of 500 calories per day. You can do this by eating 250 fewer calories a day and burning an extra 250 calories through physical activity (e.g., walking 2.5 miles).

Youth on the move

It's as important for kids to be active as it is for adults. In fact, the American Cancer Society recommends that kids do more. They need at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity on 5 or more days a week.

Yet most young people do not meet this minimum recommendation, and are likely to become sedentary adults. This means they'll have greater risk for diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. What can you do about it?

Look for chances to encourage kids to be active, even if it's just a quick game of hide and seek, or a pickup basketball game. Kids develop habits early in life, and you can help give them a healthy start.

Tips for parents
The sad shape of physical activity

• Only about 35% of high school students meet minimum physical activity recommendations.
• The majority of high school students take only 1 year of physical education between grades nine and 12.
• For students in grades four through 12, having fun in PE class means they are more likely to be active outside of school.
• The average child spends more than 4 hours a day using electronic media.
• Today, more than twice as many children and almost three times as many teens are overweight than in 1980.

As your kids get older, it can become harder to find time to be active together. Post a list to remind the family of activities that can be enjoyed together, such as hiking, biking, gardening, skating, swimming, and canoeing.

Tips for the stroller set

• Toddlers are the perfect exercise partners. They have plenty of ideas about how to be active; just follow their lead!
• Music and dancing are favorite toddler activities. This is the only time in their lives when they'll be impressed by your fancy footwork, so don't be shy. Look for children's music CDs that feature games and dancing.
• Consider starting a babysitting co-op with your neighborhood,church, or family. One or two parents take turns watching the children for about an hour while the others go for a walk or engage in some other activity.

Don't have a child of your own? Borrow one from friends or family and give parents a needed break. Or volunteer with a youth sports or recreation program.

Safety first

By following a few practical guidelines, you can ensure that your physical activity is fun and safe.

• Most people can begin a program of moderate activity with little supervision. But, if you are planning on doing more strenuous or intense activities, be sure to get checked out by your doctor first.
• If you are just starting to be active regularly, start slowly and increase duration, intensity, and frequency over time.
• Warm up and stretch to reduce chance of injury.
• Be active with a partner.
• Drink plenty of water before, during, and after physical activity.
• Don't overdo it. There is no gain from pain.
• Always follow instructions and safety recommendations when using exercise equipment or machinery.
• Wear comfortable clothes and the right kind of shoes.

When being active outdoors:

• Wear safety gear when necessary - for example, a helmet and padding while rollerblading or cycling.
• Obey traffic rules, or avoid traffic by using parks and trails.
• When you are active outdoors at night, choose well lit areas where there are other people.
• Be sure to wear reflective clothing so cars can see you at night.
• Avoid outdoor activities in extreme hot or cold weather.
• Don't be a couch potato - but don't be a baked potato either:
  - Wear protective clothing when out in the sun.
  - Wear a sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPE) of 15 or higher.
  - Wear sunglasses and a hat that shades your face, neck, and ears.
  - Plan outdoor activities that avoid the midday sun (10 a.m. - 4 p.m.).

Sunscreen isn't recommended for babies younger than 6 months old. So protect them with appropriate clothing, as you would an older child, and keep them in the shade.

If you have lightheadedness, chest pain, extreme tiredness, nausea, or moderate to severe muscle or joint pain, stop exercising and call your doctor.

What to do if you are injured

If the injury is serious, seek medical care right away. See your doctor if:

• Your pain is extreme or doesn't get better.
• The injury does not heal in a reasonable amount of time.
• You develop an infection or fever.
• You have an injury to a joint that causes swelling
• You are unsure about the severity of the injury.

If your injury is not serious, follow the RICE principle:

• Rest the injured area right away.
• Ice the area right away © Compress the injured area with elastic bandage or both to also reduce swelling.
• Elevate the injured area.

A step in the right direction

Leading a physically active life requires making the choice not to be sedentary. Unfortunately, the communities in which we live, work, and go to school can make this difficult. The lack of sidewalks and recreational facilities and a community design that promotes driving instead of walking and biking are just a couple of the obstacles. And it doesn't help that when budgets are tight, school physical education programs and bike paths are often among the first things to get cut.

Still, there are steps you can take to make your community an easier place in which to be active.

At home

Do you live in a walk able community? Can you walk or bike to recreation facilities, parks, or trails? If not, why not? Does your community need sidewalks, crosswalks, or traffic lights to make it safer for walking? Let your local transportation, planning, or zoning boards know your concerns. And contact your police department about speeding cars or crime.

At work

Talk with your employer about adding physical activity programs as a health benefit and to help you stay well. Encourage your employer to provide on-site exercise facilities, or work with insurance providers and local health clubs to get discounts. Join your co-workers in community-based walks and runs.

At school

Many schools no longer have daily physical education requirements and recess for students. You can work with your local school board or parent-teacher-student organization to address these concerns. You can also advocate to make school resources, like gyms, available to the community before or after school hours.

Good for you! You´ve taken the first step toward being more active - becoming informed. Remember that physical activity is only one part of a healthy lifestyle and staying well. Eating a healthy diet is also important. A diet that includes at least 5 servings of vegetables and fruits each day, whole-grain foods, and that is low in animal fats and processed foods provides the right balance to physical activity. With these smart steps, you'll look forward.