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Adventist's Healthy Lifestyle Decisions Featured at Annual Conference

The lead investigator in a long-running national study will discuss some of its findings as part of the two-day event.

Members of the Seventh-day Adventist church tend to live about 10 years longer than the average American.

The topic of Adventist health will be among those to be tackled at the popular Healthy People 2012: The Lifestyle Conference, hosted by Loma Linda University Medical Center and the School of Public Health. This year’s theme is “Healthy Aging and Living Whole.”

Loma Linda, which has a large Seventh-day Adventist population, is recognized as one of only five “Blue Zones” in the world, places identified by New York Times best-selling author Dan Buettner where people live long and vital lives into their 80s, 90s and 100s.

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The conference, open to the public, is from March 6 to 7 at Loma Linda University Drayson Center, 25040 Stewart St.

Adventist's belief in a healthy lifestyle was thrust into the national spotlight recently when Loma Linda residents protested the approval of a shopping center that may include a McDonald's restaurant.

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Dr. Don Wright, deputy assistant secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will give the keynote on “National Prevention Strategy and Healthy People 2020 Initiatives.” Also scheduled to speak is Molly Mettler, senior vice president of mission at Healthwise.

Dr. Gary Fraser, principal investigator of the Adventist Health Study, is scheduled to give a presentation on the long-running study, which explores the links between lifestyle, diet and disease among Seventh-day Adventists. More than 96,000 church members from the U.S. and Canada are participating in the current study, AHS-2, conducted by researchers at the Loma Linda University School of Public Health.

Healthy People 2012 will define the “Top 10 Lifestyle Priority Areas” necessary for healthy aging. At the conference, participants may choose from three tracks that address healthy aging, each representing a foundation pillar for healthy living: clinical preventive strategies; healthy community environments; and, empowered people.

Registration for the conference for the public is $249. Discounts are available for students, and seniors over 65. The conference also offers 12 continuing professional and medical education units.

For more information and to register, check out the website: www.healthypeopleconference.org.

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