LITTLE FALLS, N.J. — Far fewer Americans are engaging in healthy lifestyles than there were just two decades ago, researchers say. Only 8% of today’s patients engage in all five healthy behaviors — maintaining a healthy weight, eating fruits and vegetables, drinking alcohol in moderation, exercising, and not smoking — compared with 15% in 1988, Dana E. King, M.D., of the Medical University of South Carolina, and colleagues reported online in the American Journal of Medicine. The findings have implications for the overall future risk of cardiovascular disease in adults, they said. ‘These findings should provide new motivation for an increasing commitment to promoting healthy lifestyles for the public good,’ the researchers said. They compared rates of healthy lifestyle habits in patients ages 40 to 74 who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in 1988-1994 and 2001-2006. They analyzed adherence to five healthy lifestyle recommendations: eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables per day, exercising at least 12 times per month, maintaining a healthy body weight, drinking moderately (up to one drink a day for women, two for men), and not smoking. The researchers found that over the […]