BODY WATCH : Thigh Maven Somers Sets Her Sights Northward

Thighmaster mistress Suzanne Somers wants you to set your sights a little higher with the Buttmaster.

The actress, who stars in the ABC sitcom “Step by Step,” turned 49 Monday. (“There’s a confidence that comes with this age that I wouldn’t trade for anything,” she says.)

The shapely baby boomer and grandmother--”I was in the delivery room. . . . It was incredible. I touched her little finger”--spoke about her latest exercise device:

“I’ve been using the Buttmaster about six months now. Within the first couple of weeks, I was seeing a tightness and then after about two months there was a big difference. . . . It’s my kind of exercise. I’m basically lazy.”

Some of you may already have the Thighmaster; it won’t go to waste. Says Somers: “We tested to see if we could do the Thighmaster and the Buttmaster at the same time, and you can and completely target the entire area all at once.”

You know the area she’s talking about. “As our inner thighs were dropping, I happened to notice that so were our butts,” she says with a laugh. “Alan [Hamel, her husband and manager] says that my butt--and he’s the one who would know best--looks like it’s an inch higher than it used to be. So the Buttmaster must be doing something. Now I just do it for maintenance, just to keep it up.”

The Buttmaster ($29, including video) is sold in stores or you can order by calling (800) 803-8855 starting Friday.

Events

Northridge Hospital Medical Center presents a panel on “Ethical and Financial Concerns of Health Care.” Wednesday, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Free. 18300 Roscoe Blvd. Call (800) 922-0000 for reservations . . . On Friday, a free lecture on “Legal Issues for the Elders” will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center, 18321 Clark St., Tarzana. Call (800) 779-6636 for reservations . . . The Alhambra Gardens Retirement Center is hosting a health fair on Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon, 1 E. Commonwealth Ave., Chatsworth. Call (818) 289-3871 for information . . . Earthsave Los Angeles offers a lecture Sunday on “A Dietary Approach to Breast and Prostate Cancer Prevention.” Members, $8; non-members, $10. 3 p.m. MGM Plaza, 2500 Broadway, Building F, Community Room, Santa Monica. Call (213) 964-4455 . . . Free flu shots for folks 65 and older at PruCare of California’s Sierra Angeles Health Care Group on Oct. 24, 25 and 26., 9 a.m-noon. 5620 Mesmer Ave., Culver City. Call (310) 390-4225 to reserve your vaccine . . . Join Judy Johnson, RN, for a woman-to-woman discussion about managing menopause. Oct. 25 from 7-8:30 p.m. Free. Bay Shores Medical Group, 19601 Mariner Ave., Torrance. Make a reservation by calling (310) 371-0813, Ext. 5161 . . . On Oct. 25 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., the Learning Annex presents a seminar on breast cancer prevention. Non-members, $29; members, $24. Ramada Inn, 6333 Bristol Parkway, Culver City. Call (310) 478-6677 . . . Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital is sponsoring a conference, “Starting to Take Notice: Women of Color and Cancer,” on Oct. 27 and Oct. 28. $75. 333 N. Prairie, Inglewood. Call (310) 216-3200.

* This health roundup appears on Tuesdays. Items to be considered should be mailed 3 1/2 weeks before the event to Candace A. Wedlan, Healthwatch, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, Calif. 90053. Fax: (213) 237-4888.