Taking a walk or even jogging around the block for half an hour a day is guaranteed to make a big difference in your health. Exercise has been recognised as one of the best medicines for your body. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently published recommendations encouraging physical activity.

‘€œThe current recommendation is to accumulate about 30 minutes of moderate activity, that is, like going for a brisk walk at least five days a week. And, if you’€™re going to do a bit of vigorous work, about an hour and 15 minutes will do. This means 150 minutes of moderate activity each week is enough to reduce substantially the risks for cancer, cardio-vascular disease and lung disease’€, says Professor Vicki Lambert of the University of Cape Town’€™s Sport Science Institute of South Africa.

‘€œOne of the things that are becoming increasingly important is sitting time. That should be minimised because we recognise that inactivity is becoming an independent risk factor for chronic disease’€, Professor Lambert adds.  

South Africa accounts for seven percent of preventable deaths, globally. According to Professor Lambert exercise is so important that it can control conditions that are life-threatening, such as obesity. She says even if a person has a chronic illness, if they are fit, their life can be prolonged through exercise.

‘€œThere is evidence that shows that if you are fit, even if you are overweight, your risk of chronic disease is less than if you are normal weight and do no activity. What we tell people is that if their job is sitting at their desk or behind a computer it is really important to get up during that working day, several times in an hour, and step away from the desk and take a walk in the passage. Or, instead of emailing your colleague, you can go to their office with your feet’€, says Professor Lambert.

In addition to exercise, a healthy diet can do wonders. One needs to balance their intake of all the food groups in a day. Dietician Fransesca Esposito, gives us some nutritional guidelines.

‘€œWe recommend that there is about 45 ‘€“ 60% of the diet provided from carbohydrates, between 10 and 35% from protein and 20 – 35% from fats. And, you would want to focus on including the best choices from each of those food groups’€.

Esposito says far too many times, consumers do not turn over the box of the product they are buying to take note of the nutritional information label. She says it is important to know exactly what it is you are consuming.

‘€œThree things I would focus on is, firstly, look at the fibre content of any carbohydrate-rich foods because you want to make sure that you are generally going for high fibre products. And the key number there is six. So, for a product to be considered very high in fibre it should have, at least, 6 grams of fibre per 100 grams. That is relevant for products like cereals, crackers and bread. Fat content is detrimental to our health, so you’€™re aiming for things that contain less than 1.5 grams of saturated fat per 100 grams. The other one that is significant is the sugar, so the cut off there, should be less than 12.5 grams’€.

With all the recommendations by dieticians and doctors on how to live a healthier life, exactly how do we change the behaviour of an individual for the better?

‘€œI can’€™t give you a straight answer, but what I can tell you is that there are a lot of common things.  One is efficacy’€¦ The person has to feel that they can do that and that they can visualise and see themselves doing what you have suggested. The other aspect is autonomy. The person has to feel that they have control over their decision and they are not being bossed, but they have some autonomy. Lastly, it has to register in the person’€™s mind, so the more they hear or see it they change their behaviour’€, says the Sport Science Institute’€™s Professor Lambert.

Professor Lambert says the corporate world needs to encourage their employees to be active in order for them to be more productive at work. She says this can be done in many ways, such as using public transport as opposed to company cars.