8 RULES FOR A HEALTHY 2008

You can't control genetics or the guy on the bus who sneezes on you, but many factors that affect your health are well within your control. Here are eight simple and surprising ways to improve your family's health in 2008.

1. Sleep more ... and lose weight

Well, it's not quite that straightforward, but a number of intriguing studies have found that people who get lots of sleep are less likely to be overweight, including a November 2007 study published in Pediatrics.

And it's not just that you can't eat while you're sleeping.

Scientists believe the hormones ghrelin, a "feed-me" signal to the body, and leptin, a "feeling-full-now" hormone, get out of balance in the bodies of people who don't get enough sleep.

2. Get more vitamin D

One of the hottest topics in medicine these days is vitamin D, says Dr. Kenneth Cooper, the father of aerobics and the founder of the Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas.

A July 2007 article in the New England Journal of Medicine cited insufficient levels of vitamin D as a key factor in osteoporosis. "More women will die from complications of osteoporosis of the hip than from breast cancer, and you can't just take calcium and expect it to prevent osteoporosis unless you have sufficient vitamin D," says Cooper.

Insufficient vitamin D is clearly linked to colon cancer, and may be linked to prostate cancer, ovarian cancer and breast cancer, Cooper says.

Vitamin D is not found in many foods. It's present in high levels in salmon, tuna, sardines and — ooh, yum — cod liver oil. Milk is fortified with vitamin D, but most other dairy products are not. Fortified margarines contain vitamin D. You can get 10 percent of your daily recommended dose in some ready-to-eat cereals.

3. Learn yoga breathing

The slow, deep inhale and long exhale of beginner yoga, expanding your abdomen as you fill up with air, softening as you exhale, is an excellent general relaxation technique.

Practice this slow, deep breathing, at a weekly yoga class, perhaps, or on your own for a couple of minutes several times a week, until it becomes something you can do easily.

You can then use this breathing technique to help you relax, both mentally and physically. Got a charley horse in your leg? Deep breathing will usually clear it up quickly. Lower back pain got you hunched over? Try taking five or six long, slow breaths and you just might find yourself standing straight.

A couple of minutes of focused yoga breathing also can help you cope with stress. And if you're lying in bed worrying about something and can't fall asleep, concentrating on your breathing for a few minutes could help you relax and let go of whatever you're worrying about.

4. Avoid trans fats

"Trans fats prolong shelf life, but shorten your life," Cooper said. He suggested reading labels on all processed foods and buying only items that say the item contains zero grams of trans fats.

"If it doesn't, I wouldn't eat it," Cooper said. "It's poison."

Trans fats increase total cholesterol; they decrease the good, or HDL, cholesterol; and they tend to add weight around the belly, which is associated with metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance.

5. Move

That's right. Move away from a region with polluted air hanging over it, suggests Dr. Robert Cluck, vice president of medical affairs at Arlington Memorial Hospital, and the mayor of Arlington, Texas.

"If you are a nonsmoker and you live in an area that's a nonattainment area, your chances of developing lung cancer are about the same as a smoker (in an attainment area)," says Cluck.

Wondering what "nonattainment" means? The Environmental Protection Agency sets standards for acceptable levels of six air pollutants, including ozone. Nonattainment areas haven't met those standards.

6. Get the shingles vaccine

If you are older than 60, ask your doctor for the Zostavax vaccine for shingles, suggests Cluck.

Shingles, a disease characterized by rash and nerve pain, mostly occurs in older people (and people with weakened immune systems) who had chicken pox as a child. The chicken pox virus lodges in nerves, but is kept in check by the body's immune system. When the immune system weakens, as it does when people age, the virus can begin multiplying in the nerves, causing this painful condition.

One million people a year suffer from shingles, and half of all people who live to be 85 have at least one outbreak.

7. Teach kids to exercise

"The No. 1 thing people can do to protect themselves is to exercise, and the effort has to start in childhood," says Cluck.

Obesity rates in children have tripled over the past 25 years, so that the obesity rate among American children ages 6-11 is now 18.8 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Encouraging children to be active helps prevent childhood weight difficulties, plus it teaches habits that are important throughout life. Organized sports get kids moving, but casual exercise, such as walking and riding bikes, can be even more important, especially if it's part of their day-to-day lifestyle.

8. Add weight training

The founder of aerobics has a new exercise mantra these days: weight training.

Cooper still wants to see clients raising their heart rate at least three times a week through aerobic exercise, such as running, but warns them that if they don't add in weight training, "you'll end up as I was at 55, able to run five miles in 40 minutes, but unable to pick up a sack of groceries without putting out my back."