A few fitness and nutrition tips, health care humor

By Carol Lindsay, RN
January 15, 2003

HealthWorld Online [www.healthy.net] provides information and resources about nutrition, fitness, self-care and mind and body approaches to healthy living.

Databases contain articles about alternative and traditional health care and techniques. "Mind/Body Health Exercises" includes in-depth instructions, pictures and articles on relaxation techniques. These techniques include breathing practices and exercises, relaxation practices, gentle exercises and self-applied massage.

Acupuncture, aromatherapy and biofeedback training, guided imagery and music therapy also are reviewed.

All in a day's work

The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety & Health Administration's site [www.osha.gov] provides information about workplace laws and regulations, ergonomics and job safety and a quarterly health magazine.

OSHA is an organization that issues standards and rules to protect workers against hazards on the job. Standards limit the amount of hazardous chemicals workers can be exposed to and require the use of safety practices and equipment.

The workers' page provides information about workers' rights and responsibilities, employers' responsibilities, workforce standards and how to file a complaint with OSHA if you feel your employer is not following OSHA's guidelines.

Shape up

If you want to lose weight, build muscle, tone up, eat healthy or get fit, visit www.fitnessonline.com. The site features the latest in exercise and fitness from a variety of popular bodybuilding and fitness magazines, including articles about exercise and workout programs, losing weight and planning and preparing a healthy diet.

Readers can subscribe to a free online fitness newsletter and take advantage of the various fitness calculators available for measurement of: body fat, weight loss potential, body mass index, ideal weight and calories burned. A calculator to identify if you are getting enough sleep and a pregnancy due date calculator also are included.

Heart-healthy diet

The American Heart Association offers an easy-to-use online edition of its "Delicious Decisions" recipe book at www.deliciousdecisions.org. The cookbook starts with a section on how to enjoy eating a well-balanced diet, facts about the food pyramid and making healthy food choices.

The second section offers advice on how to shop at the grocery store, what foods to stock your kitchen with and how to read and understand food labels. The main section, the cookbook, allows readers to choose recipes according to mealtime and main ingredient. The recipe is then displayed with dietary information that includes calories, fat, cholesterol and carbohydrates.

Links to low sodium and diabetic recipe books are provided as well.

A laugh a day

There is no shortage of health care humor on the Internet. If you are looking for a chuckle, check out any of these sites:

Medical Cartoons 2003 [http://home.swipnet.se/med-humor/index2.htm] features psychiatry, surgery, ophthalmology, ENT and nursing cartoons as well as an assortment of cartoon animation.

Randy Glasbergen, the cartoonist who illustrates the syndicated comic panel "The Better Half," runs a site at www.glasbergen.com/fit.html, from which he features a new cartoon daily. More than 200 cartoons on Galsbergen's site are related to health care and fitness.

If you are looking for verbal humor, you can find satirical "top stories" and "case studies" at www.qfever.com.