The guidelines are based on the first thorough review of scientific research about physical activity and health in more than a decade, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. A 13-member advisory committee appointed in April 2007 reviewed research and produced an extensive report in order to come up with the guidelines.

This gist of the guidelines is this: Adults gain substantial health benefits from two and a half hours a week of moderate aerobic physical activity, and children benefit from an hour or more of physical activity a day. In addition to preventing disease, physical activity can improve thinking ability in older adults and the ability to engage in activities needed for daily living.

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If you are over the age of 50, you need to consume 120% of the Daily Value (DV) for calcium. Not 100%. This is because you are advised to get 1,200 mg daily while adults ages 19 to 49 need only 1,000. Next time you read a food label, keep in mind that it's written for the 19 to 49-year-old age group.

An easy way to figure your calcium intake, says Publix Greenwise magazine, is to simply add a zero to the % DV. If a serving has 25% of the DV, then it contains 250 mg of calcium.

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Surveys say 21-to 35-year-olds prefer wine to beer. They just don't know much about the wine they prefer and have no strong loyalties to any specific brands. A good thing for advertisers who can tempt just about any palate.

Enter viral advertising, a technique that uses existing social networks to create brand awareness and sales. Forget billboards, TV, and print ads. This approach uses video clips, video games, e-mail blasts, and advertising at music events and other gatherings.

Sacre Bleu, a 45,000-bottle-a-year elite operation, is jumping at the chance to win over young drinkers with this method. Websites, podcasts, and MySpace pages will hopefully hook this population. Another selling point: Sacre Bleu wine is as natural as it can be -- with no added sugar or acids.

So wine isn't all that bad. It's healthy in fact if consumed moderately. But I tend to think advertisers wish for more than moderate sales. What do you think? A healthy endeavor or not?

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I think this logic applies to adults and kids alike but the blurb I just read in the November issue of Family Circle puts the kid spin on diet foods and drinks. And this is what it says: Diet foods and drinks may actually lead to obesity.

Research suggests that kids who eat low-calorie versions of foods may develop distorted connections between taste and nutritional content. If they never really experience the good stuff, they are more likely to overindulge when they do get a taste of it. So it's best to skip the diet goods and instead teach kids to eat all foods in moderation. Like the kid who never gets to watch TV and then arrives in front of a television set and can't break away, kids who are restricted from regular foods may one day go way overboard.

This makes sense to me -- that's why I think we adults can also benefit from this little diet lesson.

For more on this topic, take a look at this article.

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I hope you'll take this to heart: Adopting a healthy lifestyle even in your 50s or 60s can significantly cut your risk of heart disease or premature death.

Researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina have been tracking data from nearly 16,000 women and men since the late 1980s and have determined that middle-aged adults who eat five or more daily servings of fruits and vegetables, exercise for at least two and a half hours a week, keep their weight down, and refrain from smoking cut their risk of heart disease by 35 percent and their risk of death by 40 percent after just four years. Impressive.

Essentially, these individuals caught up. They bought some time and ended up rivaling those who'd been doing the right things all along. Even those who didn't totally clean up their act -- perhaps they mastered just two or three of the lifestyle changes -- lowered their risk of dying.

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I have no idea when I last got a tetanus shot. But I just learned that I need a vaccine called Tdap, a three-in-one vaccination for tetanus, diptheria, and pertussis, every 10 years. Even if I was immunized as a kid against these diseases, I still need the shot. So do all other adults.

I never knew adults needed shots. Until now.

Apparently, about 50,000 to 70,000 adults in the United States die each year of diseases that are preventable by vaccine. It seems it's time we keep track of what we need, and when we need it. So here are some grown-up guidelines for those vaccinations we should not let pass us by.

Hepatitis B

If you've had a sexually-transmitted disease and/or are not in a monogamous relationship, you need this shot. If you have more than one sexual partner in a six-month period, you need this shot. It's given in three doses over several months and protects against liver disease caused by the hepatitis B virus. The virus is spread by sex with an infected partner or exposure to an infected person's blood.

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Those who are thinking of putting their kids on a diet to avoid them joining the ranks of thousands of other kids who are clinically obese, proceed with caution. Studies are showing that kids need more fat than adults in their diet, because they burn more fat on a daily basis. Kids under three in particular need a diet that is high in fat -- in fact, 35-40% of their daily calories should come from fat, compared to only 20-35% for adults.

The key here is to make sure your child is getting proper amounts of exercise. Fighting the obesity epidemic among kids should come from more activity, not less food for their growing bodies, don't you think?

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How much you weighed at birth may still be having an effect on your life, specifically in how successful and healthy you are as an adult. This information comes from a good sized study that looked at more than 12,000 people over a period of 35+ years. The findings show that people who weighed less than 5.5 lbs. at birth are one-third more likely to drop out of high school, make an average of 15 percent less income each year, and have the health of someone over 40 years old when they're only in their thirties.

There are all kinds of theories out there on why this is, the most popular one linking low-income parents and poor prenatal care to low birth-weight outcomes, which in turn means the child is at increased risk due to being raised in an underprivileged environment. What do you think? Is this true?

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Cosmetic surgery is a hot topic these days with all the talk about liposuction, botox injections, breast enhancements and more, being popular among both celebrities and regular folks. Various topics have been covered here at That's Fit, with Rigel's posts on getting the facts before going under the knife as well as the continuing popularity of facelifts. I have covered the topic before as well with a post on aging gracefully versus finding the answer with cosmetic surgery.

To be honest, I really don't have a problem with plastic surgery in general. If an adult with the means to pay for a little nip or tuck feels that their self-confidence would benefit from a procedure or two, then that is completely up to them. I feel there is such a thing as going overboard (has anyone seen a photo Michael Jackson lately?), but in general I think that cosmetic surgery is just fine.

However, I read this article about parents giving their teenagers plastic surgery as a commencement gift and think the idea is completely absurd. Not only does it give these young adults the wrong message -- that rewarding intelligence and hard work with good looks is appropriate -- I also think that teenagers are way too young to decide whether or not to permanently alter their bodies. While there are always exceptions, most don't have the life skills or maturity to make that kind of decision. I think that they should give it a few years and wait until their bodies are finished growing. By the time they reach their 20s, they'll have a much better idea of who they are and what they value. At that point, if they're still desperate for a nose job or a breast enhancement, at least they'll have the time and experience to fully think it through.

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I was having a hard time sleeping and turned on the TV at 4:00a.m. to watch some morning news. The news anchor announced a new diet pill for dogs with a picture of an extremely over weight beagle behind him and said that the pill should be approved by the FDA, Food and Drug Administration, by next year.

HELLO.......Get your lazy butt up off the couch and take the dog for a long walk every day. You know you might shed some pounds yourself. It is time we build some healthy relationships with our pets and give them the care and nutrition and exercise that they require to live a healthy life. With obesity rates rising in the U.S. in children, teens, adults and in pets, we should get a clue on our daily diet and exercise programs. For heaven sakes your dog can't open the fridge to feed itself unless it is the dog in the beer commercial who fetches his owner a beer. Fat-filled dog foods and treats can create exceptionally unhealthy pets that are subject to the same health complications as people with obesity and related complications. Supermarket shelves are filled with dog foods that claim to be natural dog food or healthy dog food. Read the ingredients in the fine print. So feed the dog a good quality food low in saturated fats and low in corn meals and other fillers and by products. Reduce the quantity of food every day if your dog is over weight. And a must is to give the dog some exercise. All dogs like to take walks. I think it is the owners that don't like to walk. Go out in the back yard and throw a ball or Frisbee. Give it healthy snacks and treats like a piece of carrot or a slice of apple or a piece of banana. Yes my dogs love these healthy treats.

In an extreme case if the dog has a major physical ailment that keeps it from walking and exercising, the pill might do some good. But you know the diet pills for humans can eventually create problems for our liver and heart so if that is the case for dogs also, we need to take a look at the quality of life here for that pet.

A couple of UK sources took on the challenge of surveying 25,000 young people between the ages of 17 and 34 and discovered the demographic is pretty "hung up" on the way they look. No surprise there. However, a disturbing trend that young women admitted to doing was skipping at least one meal in order to lose weight. Nearly half of the women had conceded this.

And how could more than 10% of all the females who were surveyed say they hated the way they look? Apparently there is a lot of pressure to get down to celebrity-sized waistlines at any cost. It didn't just stop at women though. Over 30% of the men admitted to taking protein shakes in order to beef up their bodies and gain more muscle.

So where did this perception of perfection come from anyway? Chances are the skinny-trend could have started to gain momentum around the time when ultra-thin models hit the scene. The article references one woman from the 1960s named Twiggy who weighed in at an appalling 91 pounds. It isn't likely that the quest for zero body fat will end any time soon either.

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