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BECAUSE moderation is the universal key to achieving health and fitness, cutting back on the excessive consumption of tobacco products, alcohol and foods high in fat can help us avoid many of the serious illnesses common among African Americans.

Tobacco products, especially cigarettes, are the leading cause of lung cancer. Because they are addictive, it is almost impossible to smoke cigarettes in moderation, and most who try become heavy smokers. The best way to "moderate" tobacco use is avoiding it altogether. Fortunately, no matter how long you've smoked, quitting now immediately improves your health and reduces your risk for heart and lung diseases.

There are few health risks associated with moderate alcohol use, but excessive drinking--liquor, wine or beer--will disrupt an otherwise healthy lifestyle. Alcohol addiction often means liver disease, infertility, birth defects, domestic violence, unemployment, drunken driving and abuse of other drugs.

For many of us, the most difficult "excess" to control are foods high in fat and calories. Because a balanced diet is essential to health and fitness, African Americans must moderate our intake of soul food, fried foods, sweets and other foods that promote obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease.

It can become problematic eating honey-baked ham or chitterlings every Sunday. Instead, try fruits, vegetables, boiled, broiled, and baked meats, preferably chicken or fish. It is possible to plan and enjoy a long and healthy life--filled with pleasures not packaged in bottles, cans, cups or cartons--by replacing the excesses of tobacco, alcohol, and food with moderation.

Health clubs aren't just for Adonises with six-pack abs, and twenty something Jennifer Aniston wannabes. Americans 55 and older are the fastest growing member group at health clubs and fitness centers, according to a recently published study. Over half (55 percent) of the 33 million current club members are adults 40 and older. And many want to get fit for reasons that extend beyond the aesthetic.

"Fitness American Style: A Look at How and Why Americans Exercise," a survey of 1,200 adult Americans nationwide, was conducted in January and February 2001 by Roper Starch Worldwide for the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA), a Boston-based nonprofit trade association. Findings were released in July. The study's purpose was to test whether Americans have a different perception of fitness today than they did 10 or 15 years ago, when the emphasis was on achieving a hard body look, according to Bill Howland, IHRSA director of research. "Within the health club industry, we suspected that Americans today are less interested in the pursuit of some ideal body image and more interested in the health or emotional benefits derived from exercise," he says. Of the adults surveyed, 9 percent were health club members and 18 percent were current members or had been members in the past five years.

The survey results confirmed their suspicions. Although still struggling to fit more physical activity into their lives, people realize that exercise has improved their well-being, says Howland. Those who exercise regularly cite important physical and psychological payoffs. A majority say exercise has a positive effect on stress levels (54 percent) and "feeling good about oneself" (60 percent).

Findings from the study, which divides Americans into six categories as defined by their attitudes toward exercise, show that the largest club member groups view exercise as a way to enhance overall well-being. Just over half of all health club members are either "Balanced Holistics" (30 percent) who exercise to "get emotionally centered" as much as to stay physically fit or "Conscientious Preventors" (22 percent) who exercise regularly to prevent health problems or alleviate or control medical conditions. Most Balanced Holistics are female (58 percent) and married (69 percent) with a median age of 40. Conscientious Preventors skew slightly older toward a median age of 55. They also tend to be female (60 percent) and married (63 percent).

IT'S called "the sneak thief of sight," and it strikes African-Americans at a higher rate than any other race. In fact, a staggering I in every 13 Blacks has glaucoma--a total of about 1.5 million persons of all ages and conditions. Because of a prevalence of other risk factors, Blacks are four to six times more likely to develop the disease than Whites. Not only that, Blacks develop it on average 10 years earlier than Whites and are about 10 times more likely to go blind from it.

The disease, which has not received the attention and publicity of diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension, has taken the vision of some 120,000 people now living in the United States.

One of the major problems is that many people think glaucoma automatically leads to blindness. Although it is true that there is no cure and that vision impaired by the disease cannot be restored, the progression of the disease, if caught early and properly treated, can usually be halted and sight preserved for a lifetime. The New York-based Glaucoma Foundation, which is leading a national campaign for a greater understanding of the disease, says 90 percent of the people who are blind as a result of glaucoma lost their sight needlessly.

Dr. Kevin C. Greenidge, chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn and a board member of the Glaucoma Foundation, says that there have been many advances in recent years in treating the disease. "We're finding that glaucoma may be a different disease in people of African descent requiring more aggressive therapies" he says. "Our main aim is to lower the pressure buildup within the eye to slow progression of the disease and save sight."

Anyone, at any age, can develop glaucoma. Infants can be born with the disease, and it can develop in small children. The Glaucoma Foundation says 6 percent of the population over 65 has glaucoma. The more significant risk factors a person has the greater the likelihood that the disease will set in at an earlier age.

Dr. Greenidge says "diabetes is a risk factor, and hypertension is a risk factor, and being African-American is a risk factor--and if you have those three--there is a significant chance that you may develop glaucoma and you need to be checked on a regular basis. And if you add to that a family history of glaucoma, you probably have a 50-50 chance of getting glaucoma, if not greater."

DESPITE medical advances and new technology, the average life expectancy for African-Americans at birth is six years less than for Whites. This difference is reflective in virtually every aspect of health care, when comparing the treatment of Blacks versus Whites. High rates of heart attack, obesity, cancer, diabetes, HIV and other disorders continue to plague our community. For a society that touts itself as democratic and equal, this is a shameful and intolerable disparity.

A major report by the Institute of Medicine ("Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Healthcare") provides substantial documentation that minorities experience lower quality medical care, which leads to misdiagnosis, improper treatment, more disease and premature death.

Why is there such disparity in the health status for Blacks and other people of color as compared to Whites? Clearly, the dual factors of race and economics play a major role in the medical gaps evidenced throughout our nation.

However, while these factors must not be overlooked or minimized, and must be continually addressed on all fronts, there is another underlying cause for the disparity--lack of preventive care.

Preventive measures, such as moderate walking three times a week, can significantly move people toward a healthier lifestyle. Additionally, there are other proven measures that can detect disease or give a "heads up" on potential problems.

So I ask you to consider the following questions: When was the last time you had a thorough physical? If you are female and 35 years of age, do you get an annual mammogram and Pap smear? If you are male, do you receive regular screenings for prostate cancer (which has a high incidence among African American men)? Do you closely monitor your cholesterol level and blood pressure? Do you even know what your recommended cholesterol level and blood pressure should be? Do you exercise on a regular basis? Have you reduced the amount of pork, fat, salt and sugar in your diet? Are you a nonsmoker? If you drink, do you do so in moderation? Are you honest with your doctor about your medical concerns?

At the National Medical Association, we recognize that as part of the medical community, we must work with others to do a better job in promoting the message of prevention. We must move aggressively to work with medical partners and community organizations to emphasize the importance of preventive care and early intervention.

After more than 10 years in the health and fitness industry, as an AFAA certified personal trainer, group-exercise instructor and fitness director, I stumbled across a new concept in the ever-growing quest to change lives through exercise. "No Sweat ... Go for Gold" is a board game in which you exercise as you play. Don't let the name fool you; after more than 60 push-ups, 28 leg-lifts and 45 crunches I was sweating!

An entrepreneur in Sacramento, California, developed "No Sweat" to bring exercise and fitness education to families. After almost 20 years of mulling over the idea, perfecting the game board, patenting it and establishing the company name, Fun & Fitness LLC, Dan Thompson created a unique and fun way to help families get fit.

How to Play

The objective of the game, secondary to getting fit and having fun, is to earn enough money by exercising and moving along the game board to enter the track-and-field competition at the center of the board.

The game is initiated when players earn $50 by completing their warm-up stretches. Players must raise money for hotel accommodations, airfare and sporting goods.

The first three players to finish win gold, silver and bronze medals. The medals, exercise descriptions, game bucks and rules come nicely packaged in the "No Sweat" game box.

The game includes "calorie cards" showing pictures and indicating calorie counts for different foods. There are also "exercise cards" picturing 18 different exercises.

At the start of the game, players individually select their level of play. Beginners perform the number of repetitions shown on the red exercise die, intermediate players perform double the number and advanced players triple the number.

Young children or those new to exercise should definitely stick to the beginner level.

The underlying success of "No Sweat" is that the whole family can play and it is adaptable to different fitness levels. It is fun to see how children and adults alike can progress while playing the game.

All the Sacramento families who originally tested the game absolutely loved it.

The bottom line is that playing "No Sweat" gets families off the couch and, more importantly, moving.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a little pill that could add years to your life, fight off disease, reduce the effects of aging and make you look and feel 10, 20 or 30 years younger? If this miracle pill did exist, you probably would take it every day without fail, maybe even several times a day, in order to live a long, healthy life.

The good news is, that pill does exist. It's called exercise. Maybe that's not the answer you wanted, but physical fitness is the closest thing we have on Earth to a Fountain of Youth. And those reaching the golden years--and there are plenty of us--need a good drink from that fountain every day to stay healthy and active.

Fortunately, there's no shortage of physical fitness, but there are millions of us who are short on exercise--particularly older Black women, who are at special risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and other health problems because of sedentary lifestyles, experts say.

According to the Surgeon General, more than 60 percent of American adults do not engage in the recommended amount of activity--a minimum of 30 minutes a day, three days of the week--and about 25 percent of adults aren't active at all. The most inactive groups are Blacks and Hispanics, women, and older adults, the Surgeon General reports.

Naturally, those of us in our 50s, 60s and 70s are not as strong and as agile as we were in our 20s. But health experts say that much of the weakness, stiffness and fatigue that we chalk up to advanced age is actually the result of inactivity. Sedentary lifestyles, not aging bodies, make us feel old and feeble.

In fact, researchers have found that regular physical activity can improve the health of people who are in their 90s or older, who are frail or who have chronic diseases. Even diseases usually associated with aging--diabetes, osteoporosis, colon cancer, heart disease, stroke--can be prevented or their effects can be reduced if we put more fitness in our lives.

And there are plenty of "physical" benefits in physical fitness. Most people lose 20 to 40 percent of their muscle tissue as they get older, and bone production slows about age 30 (in women bone loss hastens after menopause).

Daily exercise, whether it's walking, jogging, stair climbing, dancing or weight lifting, makes bones and muscles stronger, denser and able to withstand the effects of age. Exercise also burns excess calories and reduces body fat, which keeps you trim and toned.

If you've been a fitness failure in the past, success may be right at your feet. Literally.

Walking can yield enormous benefits for your body and mind, from burning fat, building muscle and boosting your metabolism to lowering high blood pressure, reducing your risk of heart disease and stroke and relieving anxiety and depression.

It's also one of the safest, cheapest and most accessible forms of fitness around, making it the perfect exercise for almost everyone. And there is just something about a brisk walk in the fresh air that refreshes and restores in a way few exercises can surpass.

So if you're ready to strut your stuff around town this summer, the following tips will help you take that first step, and the next one, and the next until you're walking your way to a healthy life.

* Use both your head and feet on your walk. Walking may be a safe exercise, but injuries still can happen if you push yourself too hard. Before you start any fitness routine, it's always a good idea to visit your doctor for a checkup in case you have any hidden health conditions.

Stretch your muscles before, during and after walking to avoid cramps and strains. Start slowly, then gradually increase your pace and distance. For instance, aim to walk a mile in 30 minutes. Once you reach that goal, try to cut that time.

* Play it cool on hot days. Avoid dehydration and heat stroke by walking during cooler times (early morning, dusk), sticking to shady spots and walking inside air-conditioned health clubs and malls. Carry a water bottle and sip frequently. If you feel tired, faint or are in pain, stop.

* Pretend you're running late. You don't have to sprint, but you do need to step with purpose during your walk to get the calorie-burning, muscle-toning and health-boosting benefits. Walk naturally, but take full strides, building a heel-toe, heel-toe rhythm as you move. Speed up by taking smaller, more frequent steps. Keep your back straight, your fists loosely closed and pump your arms for momentum. If you're walking at the proper pace, you should find talking difficult, but not impossible.

* Make sure your shoes are made for walking. Well-fitting shoes with cushioning and proper support are must-haves for fitness walking. Opt for athletic shoes specially designed for walking to get the most mileage and comfort.

JONTA French isn't going to freeze her eight-year exercising regimen because the temperatures dropped. The Chicagoan decided to move her workout inside, like others who live in areas where the winter weather can be uncomfortable or unsafe to walk, jog or cycle outside.

When it's too cold and gets dark too soon to exercise outside, French enjoys working out in the gym of her apartment building or in one of the health clubs where she teaches aerobics, kickboxing, yoga, Pilates and aqua aerobics classes. She stays in shape by teaching classes throughout the week and completes her personal fitness routine by taking tae kwon do, lifting weights three days a week and running on an indoor track. This stay-at-home mom, who has a 3-year-old daughter, Jaimie, works out one to three hours a day.

"I weight-train to be more physically fit," says French, who placed second in the 1995 Indiana State Bodybuilding Competition in Women's Fitness. The contest combined bodybuilding development and aerobics skills.

French balances exercise and rest for optimum health, working out five days a week, but continues to do something active--although leisurely--like stretching exercises or yoga, on her days off.

Staying fit is more than a hobby for French, who views fitness as a way of life. She says she is well aware that there are uncontrollable factors that influence health. "I want to maintain fitness because I noticed a lot of people in my life had problems because of their weight and not working out," says the fitness expert whose grandmother and two uncles died of cancer. "I feel I can beat the odds if I keep myself healthy inside."

In her effort to stay healthy, French also rarely eats red meat, cuts down on sweets and doesn't eat carbohydrates after 3 p.m.

Despite the harsh winter weather, French plans to continue her lifestyle of eating right, exercising and spreading the word to her students.

HOT: SPORTS DRINKS

* Put down your water and pick up a Gatorade. Researchers at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil had 20 soccer players drink either a sports beverage every 15 minutes during a 75-minute game or no fluids except for water during one 15-minute break. The group that drank the carb-laden beverage ran more sprints during the first half of the game, and perhaps most important, lost only 2 1/2 pounds of weight, while the other group lost an average of 4 pounds.

NOT: GRAPEFRUIT JUICE

* Sure, it's loaded with vitamins, but grapefruit segments and juice can threaten your health when combined with some prescription drugs by inhibiting your body's processing of certain drugs and increasing the amount of medicine that enters the bloodstream. While this isn't a problem with many medications, Lipitor and Viagra are on the list. For a complete list of drugs that have potential interactions with grapefruit,

Vitamin E may help older exercise enthusiasts bounce back quicker from vigorous workouts, researchers from the Harvard School of Medicine and the Human Nutrition Center at Tufts University have found. Vitamin E helps dampen the activity of free radicals, harmful molecules that attack cells and can operate too aggressively in older people, damaging tissues after intense exercise, according to lead researcher Jennifer Sacheck, an exercise physiologist whose research was reported in the March 2002 Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. After ingesting vitamin E, participants in the study experienced lower levels of inflammation and less soreness. Sacheck says that those who are above average in fitness will gain the most benefit--mall walkers don't need extra E.

WHETHER he's pedaling to nowhere on a stationary bike or boxing an imaginary opponent on the heavy bag, Craig Harris gets in a regular workout in the basement gym in his home.

Like Harris, more and more people are trying to stay in shape, and some are among a growing group who are creating space in their homes to work out. Harris renovated his basement by adding walls, allowing him to mount more mirrors and separate the gym from the laundry area. He had new carpeting and sound buffers installed to complete the room that houses a stepper machine, a step-board for aerobics, a treadmill, a weight bench, power rack and a Healthrider.

The actor/personal trainer estimates that his renovations and advanced equipment cost close to $20,000. But, he says, someone just starting out in fitness can create a basic home gym for less than $2,000 that includes a treadmill, mirrors, dumbbells, jump ropes and three resistance stations--such as a weight bench for dumbbell presses and curls, a power rack for squats, chin-ups and pull-ups, and a leg extension and curl machine.

Before investing in equipment, find out what you really like and will actually use. Harris recommends trying out equipment in a fitness club with a free trial membership or as the guest of a gym member. You don't need equipment that will end up in the corner collecting dust or serving as a clothing rack. "Don't buy a treadmill if you don't like to walk, and don't buy a bike if you don't like to cycle," he says.

The best way to get in shape at no cost is doing old-fashioned calisthenics. "Push-ups, sit-ups, deep-knee bends and squats are free and the body provides resistance for itself," says Harris, who gives one-on-one fitness instructions and leads classes in boot camp-like workouts.

Harris enjoys working out in his home gym, but uses one of his several national health club lifetime memberships when he's training a client or pursuing an acting career away from his home in Chicago. A health club or his home gym is good when it's cold and when it gets dark too soon to exercise outside.

The voice-over actor, who is the commanding bass voice of Lt. Jackson (Jax) Briggs on the Mortal Combat video series, says there is no disadvantage to working out indoors. You burn the same number of calories. And you don't have to stop running, walking, biking or roller-blading for other people.

Q We hear so much about the problem of obesity and the damaging conditions associated with it. I've never heard about a connection between obesity and cancer. I'm a big woman, and I'd like to know if I should be concerned.

M.H., Atlanta

A If you are obese, yes, you should be concerned. In addition to contributing to heart problems, diabetes, hypertension, and joint problems, doctors say there is an apparent link between obesity and cancer.

A recent study revealed that the combination of too much weight and a lack of physical activity are factors that increase the risk for various forms of cancer. Researchers say obese women were 1.5 times more likely to die from some form of cancer than other women.

See your doctor for a thorough examination, which is the first step toward lessening your risk for cancer and other life-threatening conditions.

As resources make fitness clubs more accessible, a new study links the anti-inflammatory effects of fitness to less heart attacks.

The study of 135 women found those with better fitness levels had lower levels of CRP, a protein that indicates inflammation and can cause heart attacks. People with elevated CRP levels should begin regular exercise with guidance from their physician, says researcher Dr. Michael LaMonte, director of exercise testing and research at The Fitness Institute, LDS Hospital. Two companies now make it easier for employers to promote fitness. The International Fitness Club (401-453-1232) is especially helpful for larger employers with employees abroad. Companies pay a small fee based on employee population (as low as $1.00 each for the biggest) and have a choice of discounted memberships in more than 2,600 health clubs in 40 countries. And a network called GlobalFit (215-320-4216) is smaller, with 1,147 U.S. clubs. Employers sign up but pay nothing, employees get a discounted membership and the network handles all the health clubs' paperwork. They allow employees to "freeze" their membership (drop out for as long as s ix months), and transfer from one member club to another. Says Dr. LaMonte, "We're talking about being active on a regular basis; a good benchmark is to be able to walk a mile-and-a-half in about 30 or 35 minutes."

HOT: BEEF JERKY

* Chicken is the most popular protein source for bodybuilders (partly because it's easy to tote around), but beef's benefits make it a worthy contender. Researchers at the Rippe Lifestyle Institute in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, found that beef and chicken were equally effective protein sources for weight-loss and lower cholesterol. Want portability? Try jerky--with 13 grams of protein per serving, top brands like Pemmican pack a protein punch.

NOT: STARVATION DIETS

* Sure those freaks who eat less than 1,000 calories a day are doing it because there's some proof that mice on starvation diets live longer than their fat furry friends. Turns out that while those old, hungry mice are better at certain physical tests involving grip strength and flexibility, they fared worse than their well-fed peers on tests of cognitive function like memory and spatial learning. So you choose: Longevity or brains?

MICHAEL and Tracie Dugan have a love story that has become legend. One day, back in 1990, Michael's father called him to tell him that he'd met Tracie, the woman who was going to be the mother of his grandchildren. Would he please call and arrange a date?

Like many sons who've gotten similar calls, Michael promised to call the woman, but never did because she lived nearly two hours away. A couple of weeks went by, and Michael got a call from his father again. Tracie had ratted him out, telling his father that she hadn't heard anything. (She says now that she was trying to keep an open mind.)

This time, Michael listened. He called Tracie and arranged to meet for what would be a blind date. (Tracie had seen a photo already.) What happened when he met her--halfway between their respective cities?

"I was a goner," says Michael, 43, who works for the Los Angeles County probation department and sells real estate.

The two began dating, married in 1994 and now live in Studio City, Calif., with their 6-year-old daughter, Brooke. That one phone call--well, two phone calls--led to a love match and a family's commitment to living a healthy life.

"Early on, we discovered that we both liked to work out," says Tracie, 39, a certified personal trainer and sports nutrition specialist. "Our family stands for health--spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically. So, being fit is high on our list of values."

The couple says God blessed them with parents who gave them good genes and also instilled in them the desire to stay in fair shape.

"My experience is that when you stay in shape, you feel better as an individual, and you provide so much more to your spouse," says Michael, who also is a swimmer. "If I'm not a whole person, then I'm not able to provide stability in the relationship."

Health and fitness are such key parts of the family's life that Tracie has started a public speaking company that targets health and fitness issues in the African-American community, and works with Hands 4 Hope, an organization that teaches health and fitness to at-risk youth.

The couple also tries to serve as an example for their daughter. Not only do the Dugans show their daughter the importance of good health, but also they show her that it's something the family can do together. Michael and Tracie work out together at least once a week, and separately four or five times a week. Brooke also is very active. She swims, plays soccer, skates, rides a scooter and is also a model.