Happy, healthy & wise: feel your best at any age

Better Nutrition, August, 2004 by Jennifer LeClaire

As 63-year-old Rose Marie Pritts led the way in the Straub/Kapi'olani Women's 10K--Hawaii's annual female-only race--her daughter Anna Mueller, 35, and her granddaughter Julia Mueller, 6, hustled to keep up with their well-conditioned matriarch.

Pritts is determined to set a healthy example for Anna, Julia and the rest of the family. She just completed her ninth race on the 6.2-mile Lanikai Loop in Kailua on Oahu. Grandma gets a little closer to victory each year and is confident that she will win the race by the time she's 80. Until then, she's satisfied to cross the finish line hand in hand with her girls and vows to continue to practice what she preaches.

"We can teach our children. We can preach to them and pressure them to live healthy lifestyles," says Pritts, who is a physician in internal medicine. "But our children only learn by example. So if we eat healthy, then they will eat healthy, and they will pass those habits on to their children."

Indeed, many adult women credit their mothers as the primary influence for helping to shape their own life-long approaches and attitudes to healthy living, according to a survey that was conducted by the National Women's Health Resource Center (NWHRC). The words of advice that today's women say they will pass on to the next generation are those they feel are most scientifically or medically valid: drink milk to build strong bones, and eat vegetables to build strong muscles.

That's good advice, says Holly Lucille, ND, a licensed naturopathic physician and author of the book Creating and Maintaining Balance, but recognizing how a woman's nutritional needs change over time is equally important to optimal health.

While Lucille is a firm believer in eating nutrient-rich meals, she also encourages her patients to supplement their diets with vitamins and minerals that are known to be essential for females as they progress from childhood to teen to the various stages of adulthood. "Whether they're in college, in the midst of raising families or empty-nesters," she says, "most women understand that they have special dietary and supplemental needs and that those needs change as they age."

Raising Them Up Right

When it comes to little Julia, for example, growth and development are priorities. Experts agree that encouraging young ones to trade soda for milk and candy for fruits, vegetables and nuts will pay dividends later in life.

"Children and teens need a wide range of nutrients, including adequate amounts of protein to build up bone and muscle," says Debra Boutin, MS, RD, clinical nutrition coordinator at the Bastyr Center for Natural Health in Seattle. "It is during these years that we have the greatest ability to build bone. Eating foods high in calcium, vitamin D and magnesium, in particular, is extremely important."

Little Julia put in extra hours to build up her endurance for the 10K race and says she wants to be "big" like Mom and Grandma when she grows up. Julia considers the race good training so she can "walk to Disneyland." But experts say active children and young teens don't necessarily need an exercise regimen. When they run and play, they're building muscle and bone mass and giving their hearts a good workout at the same time.

The Reproductive Years

The female body changes dramatically during the reproductive years, and so do health and fitness concerns. Since the body stops building bone somewhere around the age of 30, young to middle-aged women like Anna still need plenty of calcium. The priority now shifts to preventing osteoporosis.

With NWHRC figures showing more than 25 million women in the United States who have been diagnosed with osteoporosis and 50 percent of women at risk for developing the disease during their lifetime, bone health is one of the most important concerns for adult women. Seventy-five percent of those surveyed say they believe they either have or are at risk of developing osteoporosis. That's why Pritts encourages her girls to drink milk and to eat other calcium-rich foods such as salmon, tofu, red beans, green vegetables and almonds.

"Women today may be less inclined to drink a glass of milk, especially if they're dieting," says Miriam Nelson, PhD, director of the John Hancock Center for Physical Activity and Nutrition at Tufts University in Boston. "The good news is that women have more sources for calcium. For example, women can take calcium citrate, which ... does not cause gas, bloating or constipation commonly experienced after taking other combinations such as calcium carbonate."

Experts also stress the importance of B vitamins and magnesium to help the body absorb calcium and maintain bone mass. And in addition to cardiovascular workouts, new emphasis is being placed on weight-bearing exercises such as walking, running and resistance training (Nautilus or Pilates). Regular exercise is especially important at this life stage to preserve bone density and boost metabolism. Anna says most of her exercise comes in the form of chasing her children around all week.