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Health, fitness, and nutrition advice is always changing!

Have you ever wondered why health, fitness, and nutrition advice is always changing?  Not long ago, eggs were bad for you. Now the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction. Now they're the perfect food, and, yes, eat the yolks, too.

For decades, 30 minutes a day of exercise three times a week was the recommended advice. Now, many experts advise adults to get a minimum of 150 to 300 minutes of exercise per week.  Also, a combination of cardiovascular, strength, and flexibility exercise is considered optimum.

When it comes to preventing cardiovascular disease, the latest recommendation by the American Heart Association says we should begin screening at the age of 20.  While that may sound surprising, heart disease actually begins in childhood with our early diet and exercise habits.

To help keep you on track, here's my little mini health-and-wellness quiz.

1.  The best cardiovascular exercises are:

A. Running; B. Walking; C. Biking; D. All of the above.

2.  The single most significant thing effecting childhood obesity is: 

A. Too much television viewing; B. Too little exercise; C. Too much overeating; D. Too little sleep.

3.  The three practical steps that could reduce your child's risk of obesity by 40%:

A. Not having an obese mother; eating portion-control meals; having daily play and exercise times; B. Not eating fast food; watching two hours of TV daily; exercising every day; C. Eating family dinner at home 6 to 7 days a week; getting 10.5 hours of sleep at night; limiting screen time to no more than two hours a day; D. Limiting screen time to two hours a day; getting 8 hours of sleep; eating out once a week.

4. The No. 1 cause of death in the United States is:

A. Stroke; B. Diabetes; C. Heart disease; D. Cancer.

5.  The body mass index (BMI) is based on which of the following:

A. Body Composition; B. The Metropolitan Life Insurance Chart; C. Height and Weight; D. Body Fat Measurement.

6. A BMI of 24.9 is which of the following:

A. Underweight; B. Normal; C. Overweight; D. Obese.

7. The most accurate way to measure fat loss is:

A. Scale; B. How your clothes fit; C. Body Composition Testing; D. Tape Measure.

8. Too much abdominal fat is likely to increase your risk for which of the following diseases:

A. Diabetes; B. Heart Attack; C. Cancer; D. All of the Above

9. A  large waist circumference for men is ______ and for women is  ______:

A. 40 for men, 35 for women; B. 35 for men, 30 for women; C. 45 for men, and 40 for women; D. 35 for men, and 25 for women.

10. One pound of fat has how many calories:

A. 3000; B. 3500; C. 4000; D. 2500

11. To lose 1 pound of fat by the end of the week, you'll need to cut out how many calories per day:

A. 1000; B. 500; C. 250; D. 300.

12. If you're trying to lose weight, the optimal loss per week you should try for is:

13. If you want to lose weight, you should eat less _________.

A. Carbohydrates; B. Fat; C. Calories; D. Protein.

14. If you walked vigorously for 30 minutes daily, at the end of the year, you would have lost:

15. If you stopped drinking one 12-ounce bottle of soda or one 12 ounce bottle of processed juice a day, at the end of a year you would have lost:

 Answer Key

  1. D.  All of the above.  Just be sure to check with your doctor before changing your exercise and eating habits.

  2. D - Too little sleep.  According to researchers, children (ages 0 to 21) need 10 hours of sleep.  In the last 20 years, children have lost on average an hour of sleep.  Many researchers believe that a lack of sleep is the real culprit driving up childhood obesity.

  3. C - Many experts advise that by eating the evening meal at home six to seven days a week, children getting 10.5 hours of sleep daily and limiting television and screen time to no more than two hours daily will reduce childhood obesity by 40%.

  4. C - According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease is still the No. 1 cause of death in the U.S.  Every 25 seconds, an American has a heart attack.

  5. C  – Height and Weight.

  6. B – Normal.  A BMI of 18.5 is underweight, 25 to 29.9 is overweight, and 30 or more is obese.

  7. C – The most accurate way to determine your "fat" loss is body composition testing.  Body composition testing tells you how much of your weight comprised lean tissue (muscle), fat, water, and bones.

  8. D – Visceral fat around the abdominal area increases your risk for most preventable diseases.

  9. A – 40 and 35.  If you're a man and your waist is 40 or more inches, you may be at increased risk for disease.  If you're a woman and your waist is 35 or more inches, you may be at increased risk for disease.

  10. B - 3,500 calories.

  11. B - 500 (500 x 7 = 3,500)

  12. C - 1 pound per week.  When it comes to weight loss, slow and steady wins the race.

  13. C - Calories.  The bottom line is calories in vs. calories out.  Forget about fat-free, low-carb, no-carb, and high-protein hysteria.  If you want to lose, you must take in fewer overall calories -- and get moving, too.

  14. B - 10 pounds.  Small lifestyle changes can payoff BIG time.

  15. C - 10 pounds.  (If you combine that with #10, that's 20 pounds at the end of the year.)

Kimberly Garrison is a wellness coach and owner of One on One Ultimate Fitness in Philadelphia. Her column appears on the first and third Wednesdays monthly.