New year, right time for 5-2-1-0

Make a resolution you can keep

It’s that time of year when we find ourselves making resolutions to improve ourselves and our lives. One common resolution: getting healthier, which often includes losing weight. This time of year we are bombarded with fad diets promising quick results, but how do you know what’s best or what’s healthiest? Often these diets are impossible to keep up and set you up to fail. The Centers for Disease Control reminds us that the key to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is living a healthy lifestyle every day – one that includes proper nutrition and physical activity. One way to achieve a healthy lifestyle in a way you can manage: follow 5-2-1-0.

5-2-1-0

5-2-1-0 is an evidence-based concept of four healthy habits that anyone can do, every day. 5 is for 5 servings of fruits and vegetables; 2 is for 2 hours or less of recreational screen time; 1 is for 1 hour of physical activity; and 0 is for sugar-sweetened beverages. You may already be practicing two or three of these healthy habits. If you start by adding one more to your routine and then a few weeks later adding another, before long you’ll be in the habit of doing all four steps.

Jump IN has lots of resources to support you.

Not sure how to limit screen time? Look here.

Not sure what to drink if you’re giving up soda? Read here.

Wondering how you’ll get 60 minutes of physical activity every day? Look here.

What exactly counts as a serving of fruits or vegetables? You can find out here.

And go here or here or here or here for more 5-2-1-0 tips and fun ideas.

You can even bring these healthy habits to work with you. We have lots of tools for worksite wellness, free for download here.

An alarming study was released a few weeks ago in the New England Journal of Medicine that predicts that by 2030 (that’s only 10 years away!) half of all US adults will be classified as obese and a quarter will reach severe obesity, the classification when one’s BMI is over 35. Obesity contributes to many chronic health conditions , including diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and risk of stroke, so reducing obesity is important for good health. While these numbers are scary, the future is not written in stone, and now is the time to take action with 5-2-1-0.