Healthy Living (Print Version)

Many factors affect your health. Some you cannot control, such as your genetic makeup or your age. But you can make changes to your lifestyle. By taking steps toward healthy living, you can help reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke and other serious diseases. For example,

See your doctor for regular screenings, not just when you are sick
Maintain a healthy weight
Eat a variety of healthy foods, and limit calories and saturated fat
Be physically active
Control your blood pressure and cholesterol
Quit smoking
Protect yourself from too much sun

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Start Here

Preventive Services for Healthy Living(American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/healthy/prevention/175.printerview.html
Also available in Spanish http://familydoctor.org/online/famdoces/home/healthy/prevention/175.printerview.html
Tips for Healthy Children and Families(American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/healthy/aim/food/866.printerview.html
Also available in Spanish http://familydoctor.org/online/famdoces/home/healthy/aim/food/866.printerview.html

Overviews

Five Minutes (or Less) for Health(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/family/minutes/
Staying Healthy in an Era of Patient Responsibility(American Association for Clinical Chemistry) - http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/features/screening.html
What You Can Do to Maintain Your Health(American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/healthy/prevention/086.printerview.html
Also available in Spanish http://familydoctor.org/online/famdoces/home/healthy/prevention/086.printerview.html

Latest News

Don't Lose Your Resolve to Live Healthier(01/23/2009, American Cancer Society) - http://www.cancer.org/docroot/SPC/SPC_1_Dont_Lose_Your_Resolve_to_Live_Healthier.asp
Eating on the Run May Lead to a Poor Diet(01/14/2009, Reuters Health) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_73791.html
Show Your Children How to Live a Healthy Life(01/12/2009, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/Features/ChildHealth/
Vigorous Treadmill Workout Curbs Appetite Hormones(12/26/2008, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_73230.html
Healthy Holiday Gift Ideas(12/01/2008, National Institutes of Health) - http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2008/December/feature1.htm
Stay Upbeat, Exercise to Help Prevent Cancer in Old Age(11/17/2008, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_71744.html

Prevention/Screening

MedlinePlus: Health Screening(National Library of Medicine) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/healthscreening.html

Nutrition

Finding Your Way to a Healthier You: Based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans(Dept. of Agriculture) - http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/html/brochure.htm

Related Issues

Do You Know the Health Risks of Being Overweight?(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) - http://win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/health_risks.htm
Healthy Living: How Common Behaviors Affect Your Health(American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/healthy/prevention/786.printerview.html
Also available in Spanish http://familydoctor.org/online/famdoces/home/healthy/prevention/786.printerview.html
How Can Spirituality Affect Your Family's Health?(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/feelings/spirituality.html
Mind/Body Connection: How Your Emotions Affect Your Health(American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/healthy/mental/782.printerview.html
Also available in Spanish http://familydoctor.org/online/famdoces/home/healthy/mental/782.printerview.html
Smallstep.gov(Dept. of Health and Human Services) - http://www.smallstep.gov/
Also available in Spanish http://www.smallstep.gov/esp/esp_index.html
Staying Healthy(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) - Links to PDF - http://www.medicare.gov/Publications/Pubs/pdf/11100.pdf

Health Check Tools

Disease Risk Index(Siteman Cancer Center) - http://www.yourdiseaserisk.siteman.wustl.edu/english/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.yourdiseaserisk.wustl.edu/spanish/

Research

Better Living through Behavioral and Social Sciences(National Institutes of Health) - Links to PDF - http://www.nih.gov/about/researchresultsforthepublic/behavioralsciences.pdf
Prevention Activities Could Increase Lifespan of U.S. Adults(American Heart Association) - http://americanheart.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=461

Journal Articles

References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

Article: Physicians encouraging colorectal screening: a randomized controlled trial of enhanced... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19139323&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: It is time! Accelerating the use of child health information... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19088230&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: The public role in promoting child health information technology. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19088229&tool=MedlinePlus
Healthy Living -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=health+promotion[majr]+OR+(primary+prevention[majr]+NOT+immunization[majr])+AND+humans[mh]+english[la]+AND+(jsubsetk[text]+OR+patient+education+handout[pt]+OR+jsubsetn[text]+OR+jsubsetaim[text]+OR+review[pt]+OR+guideline[pt]+OR+clinical+trial[pt])+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
Life style -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=life+style[majr]+AND+(prevention[sh]+OR+primary+prevention[mh])+AND+humans[mh]+AND+english[la]+AND+(jsubsetk[text]+OR+patient+education+handout[pt]+OR+jsubsetn[tw]+OR+jsubsetaim[tw]+OR+review[pt]+OR+guideline[pt]+OR+clinical+trial[pt])+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus

Dictionaries/Glossaries

GetFit Glossary of Terms for Physical Health(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) - http://getfit.samhsa.gov/PhysicalHealth/Information/glossterms.aspx

Organizations

American Academy of Family Physicians - http://familydoctor.org/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - http://www.cdc.gov/
Also available in Spanish http://www.cdc.gov/spanish/

Newsletters/Print Publications

NIH News in Health(National Institutes of Health) - http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/

Statistics

Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/brfss/
Data 2010: The Healthy People 2010 Database(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://wonder.cdc.gov/data2010/focus.htm
FASTATS: How Healthy Are We?(National Center for Health Statistics) - http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/healthy.htm

Children

Tips for Healthy Children and Families(American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/healthy/aim/food/866.printerview.html
Also available in Spanish http://familydoctor.org/online/famdoces/home/healthy/aim/food/866.printerview.html

Teenagers

Teenagers: How to Stay Healthy(American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/children/teens/prevention/285.printerview.html
Also available in Spanish http://familydoctor.org/online/famdoces/home/children/teens/prevention/285.printerview.html

Women

Staying Healthy at All Ages(American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) - http://www.acog.org/publications/patient_education/ab006.cfm
Also available in Spanish http://www.acog.org/publications/patient_education/sb006.cfm
Tips for a Safe and Healthy Life(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/family/tips/

Seniors

Health Assessment(AGS Foundation for Health in Aging) - http://www.healthinaging.org/agingintheknow/chapters_ch_trial.asp?ch=8
Staying Healthy at 50+(Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) - http://www.ahrq.gov/ppip/50plusposter.htm

You may also be interested in these MedlinePlus related pages:

Exercise and Physical Fitness - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/exerciseandphysicalfitness.html
Heart Diseases--Prevention - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/heartdiseasesprevention.html
Wellness and Lifestyle - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/wellnessandlifestyle.html

Healthy Living - Multiple Languages - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/healthyliving.html