Healthy lifestyles and good health

16.JUN.06

The first paragraph of Interactive Media Limited’s Editorial Policy states that “Interactive Media must attempt to be truly interactive, using Searchlight as the medium that shines light on areas of darkness within our society.”

In that regard, Searchlight has been in the forefront, and has given this country its first regularly published entertainment magazine, BuZZ, followed a few months later by the Searchlight Business Magazine. We were also the first to give customers on the Internet a chance to be part of our readership when we went online two-and-a-half years ago.{{more}}

This week, we present the second edition of our most recent monthly magazine, SEARCHLIGHT Health & Beauty. Undoubtedly, Vincentians, like people all over the world, are becoming more health conscious. Advances in medicine have increased our life expectancy and improved our quality of life, even while we live with chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. Even diseases like cancer and HIV/AIDS which only a few years ago meant an immediate death sentence, in some cases can now treated like a chronic disease.

We now fully expect to continue to live active and fulfilling lives as we age. The concept of who is “old” has been revised, and the rise in “Masters” sports tournaments for older citizens and people taking up second and third careers after formal retirement provide evidence of this.

The relationship between healthy lifestyles and good health is undisputed. While we all on varying levels know that regular exercise, healthy diets and maintaining harmonious relationships in our work and family life are important to achieving and maintaining good health, very few of us are as disciplined as we need to be in terms of acting on what we know.

This is where our health and beauty magazine comes in. We hope, in 12 pages each month to remind you, or present you with the information you need to make healthy choices for yourself and your family.

Each edition of the magazine will have a different focus. This month, we look at men’s health in tribute to our men in general, and fathers in particular. Father’s Day is this Sunday, and we suggest a Father’s Day present of a full medical check-up for the doctor-shy men in our family.

We also spend some time this month paying attention to strategies we can use to maintain our health during Vincy Mas. Carnival is a time of “gay abandon”, and unfortunately, many abandon their normal drinking or eating patterns or indulge in other risky activities which might be detrimental to their health. We therefore provide guidelines that can be used to reduce our health risk this Carnival season.

We commend this and each subsequent issue of our Health and Beauty magazine to you. We welcome suggestions and contributions from our readers, as it is you we serve and you know best what your interests are, and the best format in which to present the information to you.