Women's magazines have forever been pushing their readers' fear buttons -- fear of being too fat, too wrinkled, too unfashionable. But even when healthy lifestyles are promoted, their is still an element of preaching the unnecessary.
When a women's magazine focuses much of its content on recipes and food preparation, it has an obligation to offer balance by producing easy-to-digest, evidence-based articles about preventive health. Real Simple does an excellent job of that in its subscription-only February issue.
In particular, it offers women a decade-by-decade review of warnings signs of heart disease, screenings they should have and prevention methods - basically, eat healthy, quit smoking and exercise.
The troubling part of such articles is that no matter how much lip service is given to the liability-free "based on your risk factors, " they rarely talk about risk in meaningful ways. Yes, family history of heart disease and high blood pressure are indicators you need to pay attention. But a long list of tests such as the magazine lays out can give the wrong impression.
Each person has a unique set of risks, and magazine editors and doctors ought to help individuals make decisions that are uniquely right for her. Although the readership of Real Simple is well-heeled and can afford every conceivable test, over-utilizing the health system is a risk in itself and most screening will simply tell you what you already know - - eat healthy, quit smoking and exercise.