HERE'S TO YOUR HOLIDAY HEALTH:
U.Va. Experts Offer Tips to Avoid Overindulging

	Over the holidays, if your belt's too tight or your tongue's
too loose, chances are you've had too much to eat or drink.

	To avoid partaking of too many ham biscuits, cookies or egg
nog toddies, some University of Virginia health experts offer a
smorgasbord of tips for handling holiday parties and meals.

Alcohol

Susan Grossman, associate director for prevention programs at the
University of Virginia's Institute for Substance Abuse Studies, offers
this advice:

* Pace yourself. The body metabolizes one drink per hour.  One drink
  equates to 12 oz. of beer, 4 oz. of wine or 1 oz. of 80-proof liquor.
* Make sure you eat before drinking.
* Alternate alcohol with non-alcoholic beverages.
* Sip.  Don't gulp.
* Don't drink if taking medication.
* Remember that alcohol mixed with carbonated beverages enters the
  bloodstream faster.
* If you've had more than one or two drinks, don't drive.

Food

Nutritionists Jolene Bodily and Susan Del Gobbo of U.Va.'s IQ Health
and Student Health, respectively, offer these reminders:

* Enjoy the holiday spirit. Focus on people, music and activities,
  instead of food and eating.
* Plan ahead.  Develop a mental picture for how you will eat at
  special occasions: a) small amounts of everything; b) a few items that
  you really enjoy; or c) eat all you want, while going light the day
  before and after.  Never arrive ravenous.
* Be easy on yourself.  Try to maintain the habits you've been
  practicing and realize that one lapse is not a total relapse.
* Listen to your body: eat when hungry, stop when satisfied.
* Take smaller portions.  Use a smaller plate, and eat slowly.
* Emphasize fruits, vegetables and grains in holiday menus.
* Give leftovers away or freeze them in meal-sized portions.

	Del Gobbo suggests taking "a hike after dinner, or going
sledding, skiing or ice skating." Such activities bring people
together, are a fun way to exercise and take the focus off of food.
She also proposes substituting flowers or other aromatics for gifts in
place of food.  "They appeal to the senses but are a lot better for
you than a box of chocolates."

	People overindulge because they are in a particularly good
mood or in response to anxiety, according to psychologist Peter Sheras,
an associate professor in U.Va.'s Curry School of Education.  Those who
are nervous or anxious about a situation eat or drink excessively to cope.
For others, overindulgence is a "social lubricant.  They break bread together
to communicate."

	Both Del Gobbo and Bodily stress that what someone consumes in
three or four days doesn't ruin or determine a healthy life style.
"That's determined by their behavior throughout the year," Bodily
said.

	For more information, contact: Susan Grossman at (804)
924-5276; Peter Sheras at (804) 924-0795; Jolene Bodily at (804)
979-9355 and Susan Del Gobbo at (804) 924-1509.
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                                                        Dec. 12, 1997
	
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