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Problem: 3. Lifestyle Diseases lead the current causes of mortality

Innovative technology today has made living easier and more comfortable. Health trends

today have forced us to sit for many long hours in the day, usually for school or work purposes,

or maybe just relaxation. So many foods back then would take an average number of hours just

to cook them, but nowadays we have instant noodles and packaged chips readily available at thenearest convenience store. Hours for leisure are spent on sitting down on a chair the entire day in

front of the computer desk or the television.

Primary Cause: Sedentary Lifestyle

The major cause of lifestyle diseases would be one wherein lifestyle attributes to poor

body condition. To be most specific, we have what would cover at least majority of lifestyle

diseases: Sedentary lifestyle. It is a type of lifestyle with little or no physical activity.

[Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedentary_lifestyle] Sedentary activites involve

sitting, reading books, watching television, or using a computer.

And as life has become more convenient, so has living. Lifestyle dictates exactly how fit

a person is which is defined by how much he eats, how much exercise he gets, and etc. People

are hardly aware of what degree their food intake is, and they ignore how having an average

amount of hours for exercise.

People that sit still more than 11 hours per day have a 40 percent higher risk than those

that sit less than 4 hours per day. However those that exercise at least 5 hours per week are as

healthy as those that sit less than 4 hours per day. [David W. Dunstan, PhD; Neville Owen, PhD,

Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(6):500-501. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2012.209, 2012-03-26]

Sedentary lifestyle has been found to cause even more deaths than smoking. 20% of all

deaths of people 35 and older were attributed to a lack of physical activity. Unlike smoking,

which targets mostly lung-related diseases, sedentary lifestyle is a more suitable generalization

for all lifestyle diseases.

Secondary Cause: Improper Dietary Habits

Living life on the fast lane, there will always be a time when we must consume fast-

produced products in order to satisfy our needs for convenience. And often when we cook our

own food, we even add in many additives like Magic Sarap or Knorr which contain

ingredients like Monosodium Glutamate that may increase flavor, but decreases health.

A proper diet optimizes the health and well-being of the individual eating it. Many people

nowadays prefer to eat meat and are picky with their vegetables. Along with that, they eat too

many of what is needed. Some other people dont eat at all, being too concerned with keeping a

slim shape. Improper dietary habits are held accounted for the obese and the anorexic. [Villarama

II, J.M. Eating disorders: Its a Guy Thing, Too. Health Care, 103, 46-48]

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Tertiary Cause: Indolence

Common among the Filipinos is their lack of eagerness to act. Other than doing things

when you can do them, procrastination happens at large for the Filipinos always holding it to

the last minute. Laziness prevents a person to act even on things that are very much worth doing.

Primary Effect: Cardiovascular Diseases

One of the issues stated in the Philippine health system is that cardiovascular diseases

ranked top for death. Cardiovascular disease closely related to sedentary lifestyle, such that

improper dietary habits and lack of exercise could have attributed to these cardiovascular

diseases.

Cardiovascular diseases, such as stroke, are linked to our cholesterol levels. Cholesterol

is needed for our bodys metabolism, but at exceeding levels it can be harmful. These can

eventually build up within our arteries, which may then eventually cause cardiovascular diseases.

[dela Cruz, S. A. MD. Get Bad Cholesterol in Control. Health Care, 103, 52-53]. People who are

obese usually have improper dietary habits, or are too lazy to exercise. It makes sense that they

are thus more prone to cardiovascular diseases.

Secondary Effect: Diminished illness resistance

Not only in sedentary lifestyles, but also those that involve harmful practices such as

drinking and smoking. One for example is: Smoking is an established health hazard and is a

major risk factor of debilitating and fatal medical conditions like heart attack, stroke, aneurysm,

and cancer. [Lacuesta, V.C. MD. Getting Rid of Smoking Addiction. Health Care, 103, 42-43].

Bad habits can also contribute to the degradation of health.

Another leading lifestyle disease is diabetes. An online article written by Pazzibugan,

Dona cited that with as many as 1.4 million Filipino adults (aged 20 and above) acquiring the

disease in the last five years [Pazzibugan, Dona. (10/30/2009) More Filipinos getting diabetes;

doctors alarmed, blame lifestyle. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved from

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/news/view/ 20091030-233046/More-Filipinos-getting-

diabetes-doctors-alarmed-blame-lifestyle]

It is also cited in the same article that the diabetes has become more frequent at a younger

age. Type 2 diabetes has now become more common nowadays when back then it was very rare.

It is blamed on the youths little physical activity and high calorie dietboth of which are

correlating factors in lifestyle

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Tertiary Effect: Shortened life expectancy.

Numerous consumer goods such as beauty cosmetics, fast-food products, technological

convenicences and others are introduced into the modern age. We start living life at a fast pace

by boiling instant noodles for breakfast, putting on makeup to make up a good appearance, and

cooking ready to eat microwave dinners, all while still doing what we do in our everyday lives.Many factors that affect shortening are obesity, lack of healthincluding intra and interpersonal,

and stress.

Obesity for example is a known factor to affect life expectancy. Based on an article,

Obesity shaves two to four years off the average lifespan, while being very obese can shorten

your lifespan by 8 to 10 years, according to a new analysis of 57 studies including nearly

900,000 people. [Harding, A. (3/18/2009) Obesity can shorten lifespan up to a decade.

Retrieved from http://articles.cnn.com/2009-03-18/health/healthmag.obesity.lifespan_1_bmis-mortality-risk-body-mass-index/]