Ebook The Effect of Diet and Exercise Patterns of Costa Rican Women on their Cardiovascular Health
Cardiovascular diseases include arteriosclerosis, heart valve disease, coronary artery disease, arrhythmia, heart failure, hypertension, shock, orthostatic hypotension, endocarditis, congenital heart disease, and any disease of the aorta, its branches or the peripheral vascular system (Cardiovascular Disease). In 1998, cardiovascular disease was the leading cause of death for both sexes in Costa Rica (Pan American Health Organization 2006). Cardiovascular disease has also been a leading cause of death and a major health concern in the United States the past few decades. In the United States many studies have been performed by groups such as the American Heart Association to determine the causes and risk factors that contribute to CVD (cardiovascular disease). They have found that obesity, sedentary lifestyle and poor nutrition are among the major risk factors for CHD (coronary heart disease), a contributor to CVD (Mosca and others 1997). Many studies conducted by the American Heart Association have also shown that active women have a 50% risk reduction over those that lead sedentary lifestyles and that 60% of all women have no regular physical activity. Furthermore, currently one-third of the women in the United States are obese (Mosca and others 1997).
Physical activity constitutes any bodily movement expending energy, and exercise is a structured physical activity. It is recommended to exercise or take part in any kind of physical activity for at least thirty minutes a day to decrease your risk of cardiovascular disease. Both regular physical activity and a nutritious diet will help reduce high blood pressure and obesity, major contributors to CVD. Walking, climbing stairs and biking are all examples of regular physical activity(Physical Activity and CVD).
Diet affects blood cholesterol levels, blood pressure, blood glucose levels and body weight. It has also been proven to have a direct affect on the development of atherosclerosis, lesions that clog arteries and suggested that less than 30% of your daily calorie intake should be contributed to fat calories. Obesity and being overweight affects all ethnic groups at all ages and gender, by increasing blood pressure. The American Heart Association has provided evidence that eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and low in total and saturated fat can effectively lower your blood pressure, thus helping your cardiovascular health. It is recommended that you get at least five servings of fruits and vegetables per day and increase your use of foods high in fiber and nutrients (Diet and CVD). The diet in Costa Rica is far from balanced. Rice, beans, fried foods such as fried plantains and meats like chicken, beef and fish are part of the staple diet of Costa Ricans. Vegetables are not a large part of the diet occasionally being consumed in a lunch or dinner. However, fruits are consumed on a daily basis and are normally easily accessible to the people. Furthermore, Costa Rican cuisine is uses oil (palm, vegetable, corn) heavily in cooking ( Food and Drink in Costa Rica). Also, in a study conducted by Kabagambe and his group, they researched the association of the type of cooking oil with myocardial infarction and data suggested that by that replacing palm oil with a polyunsaturated non-hydrogenated vegetable oil, you could reduce myocardial infarctions, a contributor to cardiovascular disease. Palm oil is one of the most widely used cooking oils in the world and is the major oil used in cooking in Costa Rica (Kabagambe and others 2005).
Lifestyle and diet changes have been associated with globalization and have had a major impact on the health of those countries currently undergoing a nutritional transition, such as Costa Rica. As an industrializing country, Costa Rica has been faced with an increase of chronic diseases such as coronary heart disease. A recent study has found that the increase in heart disease may be due to an increased intake of saturated fat most likely contributed to by their extreme consumption of their traditional fried foods and cooking in palm oil (Himmelgreen 2004). However, not only industrializing countries are faced with the increasing problem of cardiovascular disease, CVD remains the leading killer of women in America and most other developed countries and has became a particularly increasing problem among minority women for reasons unknown. Although an overall reduction in mortality rates due to CVD in the U.S have declined in the past few decades, the rate of decline for women is less than for men, especially among those of African-American descent (Mosca and others 1997).
Based on all of the above information, the objective of this project was to gain an understanding of diet and exercise practices among middle-aged Costa Rican women, to gather information regarding health education in schools, to gather statistical health data regarding the prevalence of cardiovascular disease from health clinics and to draw inferences from all the data and information gathered to understand the relationship between a person’s knowledge of, practices and attitudes toward their physical health and their physical health through surveying, interviewing and observation. Previous research in the United States shows that diet and exercise have strong correlations to cardiovascular disease. Research has also shown that women are more prone to CVD than men and that many women in Costa Rica, as in the United States, are overweight and obese with unhealthy lifestyles, making the women the subject of study in this project. Furthermore, the daily diet of foods most accessible and most common in Costa Rica contain a lot of oil and are mostly fried and contain fewer nutrients than recommended. Very little is known about the cardiovascular health in Costa Rican women except that there are health problems and it’s the leading cause of disease among older people, both men and women in Costa Rica (Pan American Health Organization 2006). As mentioned previously, understanding the women’s knowledge of and attitude towards cardiovascular disease and the effect of diet and exercise on CVD were vital to understanding the root cause of the CVD problem in Costa Rica. Several hypotheses were made. One was that the lack in health education available to children may increase the prevalence of cardiovascular disease because of unknown proper diet and recommended exercise to prevent cardiovascular disease. Another was that the dietary practices and amount of physical activity the women get on a daily basis directly correlates to cardiovascular problems. Also, that eating a diet poor in vegetables and fruits and high in fried foods and meats and such as well as getting less than the recommended thirty minutes of exercise a day will increase the probability of a woman having cardiovascular health problems. Lastly, that the availability and use of vegetables would be slim.
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