Healthy Lifestyles and Longevity

Foresight is something generally lacking in most people's lives. We live in a society predicated on instant gratification. Fast food restaurants are a good example. When hungry, just go to the drive-thru and eat to your heart's content. Two weeks later, you are left to wonder how the weighing scale can possibly register an increase of 5 pounds.

The opposite of this is deferred gratification. Where instant gratification is geared towards getting something as soon as possible, deferred gratification is the ability to wait patiently in order to get a greater reward. This is also known by more common terms such as will power and self control.

The Marshmallow Experiment is a good example of instant vs. deferred gratification. In this test (conducted during the 1960s), subjects composed of four-year olds were given a marshmallow. They were told that they could eat the marshmallow now, but if they waited for an unspecified amount of time, they would receive another marshmallow. Researchers later followed the progress of these children and discovered that, on average, those who waited to get another marshmallow had higher SAT scores.

The average life expectancy in humans has steadily increased through the years. This serves as an incentive for individuals to prepare for the future by having a healthy lifestyle. It would be difficult to live a long and happy life without an active mind and body to go along with it. Advances in medical technology has also improved longevity, along with the means to further improve it. For this reason, there is greater emphasis in our society to exercise regularly and eat a healthy and balanced diet.

One reason why health care programs are crumbling is due to the aging population. As the population ages, the amount of people earning income becomes disproportionate to the amount of people relying on the benefits of health care. Many couples opt to have children after first establishing a career, which only exacerbate the problems of an aging population. Current projections show most health care programs to be unsustainable as we progress into the future.

It is easy to compain to the government to fix things by restructuring the health care program, but we can't rely on that. We have to do what we can to change our lifestyles and stay physically and mentally fit to prepare against these increasingly unreliable health care programs. Thinking about the future and planning for it will reap great benefits as we progress further and further into old age.

Source : http://ezinearticles.com/?Healthy-Lifestyles-and-Longevity&id=3185438