1. Fitness

• Heart rate and blood pressure - Your resting heart rate is generally from 60-80 times a minute. According to the American Heart Association, your blood pressure should normally be less than 120/80 for an adult.
  
  
• Flexibility - Some people are naturally more flexible than others, but your range of motion can still improve with yoga and other disciplined stretching. The average woman can reach one to two inches past her toes when seated with legs extended. Muscle and joint injury can easily result from inflexibility.
  
  
• Body Mass Index (BMI) - using height and weight to determine if someone is overweight or obese. Generally speaking, a BMI over 31 brings a higher risk of disease.

2. Prevention

• Do the appropriate health screenings - for depression, obesity, diabetes, vision and hearing problems, blood pressure, cholesterol, colon cancer, cervical cancer, breast and prostate cancer, and chlamydia for sexually active youth under age 25.
  
  
• Do your homework - Ask "what's the evidence that this drug or procedure works?" If there's medical proof, ask for references or copies of the studies.
  
  
• Know the dangers of being over-medicalized - Americans take too many medications, sometimes unnecessarily. Ask the right questions and work with a doctor you trust. Don't expect your doctor to give you a prescription for antibiotics for colds and other viral infections. But do take the drugs for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or for other conditions when your doctor prescribes them.
  
  
• Stop smoking and drinking to excess - to avoid a host of illnesses, including lung and liver diseases.
  
  
• Get vaccinated - with standard vaccinations for children and boosters for adults including an annual flu vaccine. Also ask your doctor about other vaccines that you or your family may need depending on their age and medical conditions.
  
  
• Take vitamins and calcium - and folic acid if you're planning to get pregnant.
  
  
• Use child-safety measures - such as car seats, poison control, and bike helmets.
  
  
• Exercise - Even a small increase in physical activity can improve your health. When you combine dieting with exercise, you'll likely lose more fat and less muscle and keep the fat off.
  
  
• Eat a healthy diet - A diet with too many calories, processed foods, sodas, sugar substitutes, high-calorie "low-fat" foods, and bad fats can lead to diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, kidney disease, stroke, cancer, and more rapid aging.
  
  

3. Active avoidance of illness

• Avoid picking up others' germs - Wash your hands often, and avoid putting germ-ridden purses, backpacks, or lunchboxes on tables and counters.
  
  
• Avoid environmental pollutants - by paying attention to what you breathe, eat, drink, expose your body to, and apply to your skin and hair.
  
  
• Avoid water pollution - by drinking bottled water or using a reverse osmosis water filtration unit in your home.
  
  

4. Mind and Body Connection

• Find balance - in your physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual lives. Use meditation, guided imagery, yoga, and biofeedback to help relieve mental and physical suffering.
  
  
• Choose to be happy - Learn who you are, what you want to be, and make it happen by doing what brings you long-term meaning and contentment in your life.
  
  
• Pray or meditate if it helps you - Evidence supports prayer as an integral part of the healing process. Many people — 45 percent of Americans — pray for health reasons, especially for their own health.
  
  

Bottom line:

Being fit, preventing illness through health screenings and immunizations, doing your homework and asking the right questions, avoiding environmental causes of diseases, and living a healthy lifestyle are essential elements of good health.

Additional resources:

American Heart Association

Capitalizing on Life-Saving, Cost-Effective Preventive Service

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Dr. Sam: Avoiding Environmental Pollutants

Dr. Sam: How to calculate your BMI

Dr. Sam: Understanding the Mind-Body Connection

National Institute on Aging

US National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of Health: Medline Plus