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Public Health, Epidemiology and Prevention
PEP Talk
Volume 3 Number 9
A publication of the
P INELLAS COUNTY
HEALTH
DEPARTMENT
March 2003
Healthy Eating Is Extremely Important
March is National Nutrition Month
“Healthy Eating, Healthy You,” the key message
of the National Nutrition Month campaign
reinforces the importance of nutrition as a key
component of health, along with physical activity.
Healthy eating helps you get the most out of
life by impacting on the quality of your life. A
healthy lifestyle is the key to looking good, feeling
great, and being your best at work and play. It
all starts with a healthy eating plan that works for
you! Individual needs and preferences determine
your personal food choices. Match your food
choices to your lifestyle and individual requirements
choosing enough to achieve and maintain a
healthy weight. Actively pursue variety. Expand
your range of choices and explore new tastes
within and among food groups. Eating a wide variety
of foods not only promotes optimal nutrition,
it provides the pleasurable aspects of eating.
Make moderation your goal — you decide how
much and how often. Healthy eating doesn’t
mean feeling deprived or guilty. Look at the big
picture; what you eat over several days — not just
one day or one meal — that’s important. (See
Healthy Eating TIPS below.)
Develop a personal fitness plan that fits your
lifestyle. The key is to find a variety of activities
you enjoy and begin moderately. You don’t need
expensive equipment or complicated fitness programs
to succeed. Whether you’re doing chores,
walking, biking, or playing sports, every bit helps
your life and your health.
(Reprinted from the American Dietetic Association website,
www.eatright.org with permission.)
Healthy Eating TIPS
♦ Eating right is easier if it’s right in front of you. Make sure you buy fruits and vegetables
when you shop. Keep them in bowls in your kitchen and take them to work.
Now that you’ve bought them, eat them.
♦ When you buy or make a salad, a little bit of salad dressing goes a long way. Measure
1 tablespoon of dressing and toss salad well. Even better, use light or fat-free
salad dressing. For more flavor, sprinkle the salad with lemon pepper.
♦ If you like meat, you don’t have to give it up. Choose lean cuts such as beef round,
sirloin, turkey, and chicken. Trim all visible fat before cooking & drain grease.
(Reprinted from the National Nutrition Center website, www.nutrition.gov)

Pinellas County Health Department
WORLD TB DAY — MARCH 24, 2003
Tuberculosis Is Still A Killer
On March 24, 1882, Robert Koch announced
his discovery of the tubercle bacillus.
When Dr. Koch announced his discovery,
TB was raging through Europe and the
Americas killing one in seven people.
Koch's discovery paved the way for the potential
elimination of this fearsome disease.
But progress towards realizing even a
fraction of that promise has come painfully
slowly. Effective anti-TB drugs did not appear
until the 1950s, and effective treatment
services are still not available in many parts
of the world. TB has claimed the lives of
at least 200 million people since 1882.
About three million people die each year
from TB, and almost a billion people are infected
with the mycobacterium that causes
the disease. Clearly, understanding the
cause and developing an effective treatment
have not brought humankind any closer to
solving the problem of TB today than we
were at the time of Dr. Koch's discovery.
In 1982, on the 100th anniversary of Dr.
Koch’s presentation, the World Health Organization
(WHO) and the International
Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
sponsored the first World TB Day to
raise public awareness of the disease. Recently,
with renewed global interest in the
TB epidemic, World TB Day has become a
For more information regarding
this newsletter, please
contact:
Quality Management Division
Pinellas County
Health Department
(727) 824-6901
major international health event. In 1998, it
was observed as an official United Nations
Day for the first time.
But, World TB Day is not a celebration.
The leading killer of humans in history is
still at work in spite of available effective
medicines and tools. The greatest tragedy
is that not a single person should die from
TB because TB is a curable disease. (All contents
copyright 1998 NJMS National Tuberculosis Center. All rights reserved.)
TB Treatment — What is DOT?
Treatment for TB involves taking medication
regularly during the entire treatment
period. A health strategy called DOT is the
technique credited for major decreases in
cases of TB. DOT stands for Directly Observed
Therapy and involves a health care
worker actually observing
the patient taking their
medication throughout
the entire treatment period.
DOT proves that
when medication is taken
precisely as prescribed, TB, the killer, can
be STOPPED!
♦
♦
♦
♦
TB Facts
Someone dies of TB every 15 seconds.
Almost everyone could have and
should have been cured.
Eight million people develop active TB
every year.
One can infect between 10 and 15 people
in one year just by breathing.
The best way to prevent TB is to treat
and cure people who have it.