By Kim Waggoner
RN
Waggoner Health, Etna Green

Have you ever heard yourself say things like, “Well, all the women in my family are overweight.” “All the men in our family had heart attacks by age 50.” “Oh well, you only live once, I’m going to die from something, why not eat whatever I want?”

I challenge you to change the way you think about disease, illness and health! Instead of being a passive bystander and allow your family’s heritage to dictate your life, I encourage you to take control of your own health.

Heart disease, cancer, diabetes and stroke are among the top leading causes of death in the U.S. Here are some staggering facts from a Time Magazine article:
80% of all heart disease, 90% of Type 2 Diabetes and 60% of all cancers are preventable. In fact, according to the American Cancer Society only 5% to 10% of breast cancer is hereditary.

What? Did you catch that? The amazing truth is that if most diseases and chronic illnesses are preventable, then every day you get the opportunity to choose whether you improve your health or harm it. Those statistics mean that your daily choices have a greater affect on your own personal health than your genes.

Another frightening fact from that article is that 33% of all children born today can expect a shorter life span than their parents. It doesn’t have to be that way! You and I have a responsibility to impact our next generations health and turn things around.

Studies show that if you eat right, get to a healthy weight, exercise regularly and supplement your diet with proper nutrients you can actually decrease your risk of developing certain diseases.

This is great news, but it can be a bit overwhelming. Where do you start? The best place to start is by being aware that you have control over your own health.   Secondly, you may not be where you want to be concerning your health right now but have hope that one simple step at a time you can make an impact. Make the commitment to take the journey to experience optimal health for you and your family.

In this Healthy With Kim column — that appears only on StaceyPageOnline.com every other Wednesday — I will empower and educate you on how to create a healthy, happy, hopeful life!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kim Waggoner is a wife, mom, nurse and Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma Survivor. Her passion is to come alongside others, encouraging them to create healthy, happy, hopeful lives. Kim is the owner of Waggoner Health and writes a blog, www.kimwaggoner.com to educate and inspire others.