for your
health
Growing strong bones
Sally Field supports osteoporosis awareness
smoking and alcohol.
ROBB AARON GORDON
“We are part of a fabulous generation of women,”
says Field, “and now we
face this phase, the third
act. This image of ourselves
of being upright and strong
and actively gardening,
chopping down trees, goes
Sally Field finds gardening hand in hand with how
nurturing in all ways. aggressively we must work
for our health.
“Osteoporosis is eminently treatable and
very, very dangerous if it isn’t,” she continues.
“I really urge women to include a bone density test in their health-care plans to know if
they are at risk, and understand that if they
are at risk they must treat it and treat it the
rest of their lives.”
For Field that means working with her
physician on a multi-pronged treatment that
includes medication, calcium, some exposure
to sunlight every day—and gardening.
The great thing about gardening, Field
says, is that “you get your hat, gloves, long-sleeved shirt, wagon and dig in the dirt. When
you’re doing that, you’re not thinking about
anything else. It’s so healing and giving.” C
By Anita Thompson
“GARDENING,” says Oscar-winning actress and Costco
member Sally Field, “is good
for your body, good for your
mind and very, very bad for
your fingernails.”
After moving to a new
home in Southern California’s Malibu Mountains
four years ago, Field began a
campaign to return the three
and a half acres of land overgrown with nonnative plants to a more natural state. Tackling
this project—from pulling out mounds of
South African honeysuckle to cutting down a
40- foot eucalyptus tree (that fell on her car)
with a limb saw—has been transformative for
Field as well.
“It is reaching out for something; it doesn’t
come to you,” she says. “It all fits into getting
older and how you look at yourself and your
health and this part of your life. You don’t sit
back and take anything for granted; you have
to almost get more vigorous and aggressive.”
This is the same message she communicates to women in her other campaign: building awareness of osteoporosis. Diagnosed with
the degenerative bone disease in 2005, Field
says that despite always taking care of herself—
eating right, exercising regularly, taking calcium, not smoking—she was predisposed to
lose bone density due to her genetic makeup.
The statistics are scary. In the United
States today, 10 million people— 8 million of
them women—are estimated to already have
osteoporosis, and almost 34 million more are
estimated to be at increased risk. Risk factors
include estrogen deficiency (e.g., after menopause), low body weight, family history,
The Costco Connection
Costco members concerned with osteoporosis should consider calcium supplements.
Costco carries Kirkland Signature™ Chewable Calcium. Many Costco pharmacies offer
free osteoporosis-screening services for
members. Check with your local Costco
pharmacy manager for available times at
your warehouse.
For more on keeping your
bones healthy contact:
National Osteoporosis
Foundation, www.nof.org
Rally with Sally for Bone Health
www.bonehealth.com
U.S. Dept. of Health and
Human Services
www.4woman.gov/faq/
osteopor.htm