A healthier approach to life paid off for Mike Patton when nurses gave him the thumbs up after a series of screenings at the Argus Health Fair.

Since the turn of the year, 35-year-old Mr. Patton has been on a mission to lower his cholesterol levels and keep his weight in check.

He has been ensuring he gets his recommended fill of fruit and vegetables, vitamins and health drinks — as well as two litres of water a day — while keeping himself fit by taking part in dance-fighting sessions.

Yesterday, it was time for Mr. Patton to see if his efforts had paid off when he visited specialists at the health fair.

Nurse Quentin Sedras, from King Edward VII Memorial Hospital’s intensive care unit, took a sample of Mr. Patton’s blood and wired him to a succession of machines to measure various statistics.

His report was positive: a cholesterol score of below 100, a huge drop from the dangerous level of more than 300 he recorded three years ago.

Meanwhile his pulse was a healthy 82 beats per minute.

He gave a blood pressure reading of 150/98, which is unusually high, but likely to reflect a trend of peaks and troughs which can be fairly typical.

Mr. Patton, from St. George’s, had been expecting good results having shed16 pounds in the past few months, but was still pleased with what he heard.

“I had high cholesterol so this is good news. I wouldn’t say I’ve been on a diet because I think diets are a fad, but it has been a change of lifestyle,” he said.

“It was just an awareness thing. I felt very heavy so decided to change some things. Drinking lots of water is not easy but it has helped.”

Mr. Sedras said: “He’s an excellent example of how to improve your health. He’s been doing exercise, eating fruit and vegetables and drinking water — all these things help.”