Proverbs may improve our health according to U Toronto researcher

An article published in the December issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health indicates that 'science based' proverbs reflecting healthy living may help people stay healthier.

?People often remember proverbs although they may not remember tables of data on calories or metabolic rates,? says Bernard Choi, author of the study and Professor of public health at the University of Toronto.

?Proverbs such as ?eat to live, not live to eat? were created by our great-grandparents,? says Choi, ?A few hundred years down the road, we will be the great-grandparents. Maybe we have the responsibility to create new health proverbs based on clinical trials, rather than observations that haven?t been verified.? Choi, along with his wife and children created proverbs reflecting current thinkink in health:

• The more you smoke, the more you croak (smoking).
• A tri-colour meal is a good deal (nutrition, encouraging you to eat red, yellow and green fruits and vegetables).
• Seven days without exercise makes one weak (physical activity).

?A proverb is usually a homely illustration of a great truth and is not meant to be a dry scientific statement,? says Choi.