Fascinating article about the blinders our population has on in regards to the risks of Diabetes…

TUESDAY, Oct. 28 (HealthDay News) — While millions of Americans are at risk for developing diabetes, too few perceive the threat it can pose to their health, according to a new survey.

In fact, most respondents feared shark bites, plane crashes or cancer more, even though they are more likely to get diabetes, according to the pollsters.

“We undertook the survey because we are trying to better understand why people aren’t taking diabetes as seriously as we need people to take this disease,” said Ann Albright, director of the division of diabetes translation for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a spokeswoman for the American Diabetes Association (ADA), which sponsored the survey.

While 49 percent of the more than 2,400 U.S. adults polled said they most feared cancer as a potential health problem, just 3 percent said they worried about diabetes. In fact, each disease has about the same number of expected new cases each year, more than a million annually.

Overall, one in 10 U.S. adults, or 10 percent, have been diagnosed with diabetes at some point in their lives, compared to 6 percent who have experienced cancer, the ADA says.

For the full article, see the following link: 

Last week, I was speaking at an event and met some great folks.  A recent triathlon event had been mentioned in the introduction before I spoke, which provided a common point of discussion for many of them during the breaks and the networking time. 

The next part of the conversation was what fascinated me.  On multiple occasions, the comments went something like this:  “So you’re a triathlete?  That’s pretty cool.  I’ve thought about doing one (or a 10K or a half marathon, etc) but I know I couldn’t.”

Huh? 

In each of these conversations, I made a habit to discuss that word “couldn’t” with them.  If they don’t want to, that’s fine.  But “can’t?”  Yes you can.

And so we’d talk it through.  Regardless of the “wall” they were facing (”I can’t swim” or “I’m not a runner” or whatever), they realized that yes - actually they could.  And you should have seen their eyes.  They lit up - they started thinking about the possibilities.  They now had permission to dream!

That’s what an effective employee wellness coaching approach does.  Almost everyone has a dream - we give them permission to pursue those dreams… today.

Here is the plan for the coming week.  Work on that leg speed with these shorter intervals and stay tight on the rest time…

• 10 Minute Warm-up
• 4 x 3 min interval with 2 min jog
• 4 x 2 min interval with 90 sec jog
• 4 x 1 min interval with 30 second jog
• 10 minute warm-down

“WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than half of large U.S. employers offer wellness programs like gym memberships and weight loss assistance to their workers, and say these help reduce medical costs, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

The MetLife survey found that 70 percent of employers who offer wellness programs saw them as a “very important tool for employee retention.”

Interestingly, an investment in a generic gym membership and weight loss class is far from the most optimal use of funds when it comes to an employee wellness program.  Personalization is the key.  However, it’s still an interesting finding that the majority of companies are committed to wellness, even if they could benefit financially from a tweek in the plan.

If you’d like to read the rest of the article, here’s the link:  http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE49K9RY20081021

Thanks to Michele Baker for the following updates from the past week:

Why Take Food Seriously?

October 9, 2008

New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/magazine/12wwln-lede-t.html?ref=health

Obesity-cancer link unknown to many women

October 10, 2008

Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE49979S20081010

California Awards $46 Million for Safe Routes to School Projects

October 10, 2008

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

http://www.rwjf.org/childhoodobesity/digest.jsp?id=8742&c=EMC-ND138

Pediatricians say kids need more vitamin D

October 12, 2008

USA Today

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-10-13-vitaminDforkids_N.htm

Healthful Messages, Wrapped in Fiction

October 13, 2008

New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/health/14well.html?_r=1&ref=health&oref=slogin

Mississippi Schools Receive Funding for Student Wellness Initiatives

October 13, 2008

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

http://www.rwjf.org/childhoodobesity/digest.jsp?id=8749&c=OTC-RSS&attr=DI

More Americans getting high blood pressure: study

October 14, 2008

Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE49D7X020081014

Health Department Launches Calorie Education Campaign - New York City Department Of Health And Mental Hygiene

October 14, 2008

Medical News Today

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/125373.php

Health program planned for area youth

October 14, 2008

Orlando Business Journal

http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2008/10/13/daily14.html

Vigilance is key to weight loss

October 15, 2008

USA Today

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/weightloss/2008-10-15-diet-vigilance_N.htm

Staying Healthy in a Sick Economy

October 15, 2008

New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/16/fashion/thursdaystyles/16fitness.html?_r=1&ref=health&oref=slogin

Rochester-Area Health Officials Launch $50 Million Childhood Obesity Prevention Campaign

October 15, 2008

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

http://www.rwjf.org/childhoodobesity/digest.jsp?id=8761&c=OTC-RSS&attr=DI

Andrew Weil: Healthcare system is in as bad a crisis as the economy

October 15, 2008

The Denver Post

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/health/stories/2008/10/15/Andrew_Weil__holistic.html

US Corporate Wellness, the national provider of personalized employee health and wellness programs (www.uscorporatewellness.com) is focused on walking the walk, not just talking the talk.  And this is true throughout the entire organization, as was demonstrated at the recent USA Triathlon National Long Course Championship in Boulder City, Nevada.

42 year old CEO Brad Cooper came off the bike in approximately 45th place, but then turned in the fastest run time of the day (of any age group) by almost a full 2 minutes in the half marathon run stage of the event.  Moreover, his run time was 8 minutes faster than the average top 10 (overall) finishers, which moved him up to 11th overall in the race.

“We can’t just talk about wellness - we need to be modeling it,” said Cooper.  “This was fun today, but it’s even more fun to see individuals who are finishing their first race - something a couple of years ago they would not even have considered.  We just hope to play a part in those changes.”

Several people coming off of races this past weekend, so we’ll work more on steady pacing over slightly longer distances this week.  Here you go:

• 10 min warm-up
• 7 min interval… 3 min recovery jog
• 5 min interval… 3 min recovery jog
• 4 x 2 min at 5 seconds faster per quarter than the first 2 intervals (full 2 min recovery in between)
• 6 min interval
• 10 min warm-down

In last night’s debate, Senator John McCain echoed what many employers are finding to be true in terms of the value of an employee wellness program.  Here’s a portion of his comments:

“And it really is the cost, the escalating costs of health care that are inflicting such pain on working families and people across this country. And I am convinced we need to do a lot of things…

The rise of obesity amongst young Americans is one of the most alarming statistics that there is. We should have physical fitness programs and nutrition programs in schools. Every parent should know what’s going on there.

We need to have employers reward employees who join health clubs and practice wellness and fitness.”

I was attending a conference today as one of the speakers.  During one of the breaks (a fantastic time for people watching), I took a glance over at the recently filled - and great smelling snack table, which included various sodas, cookies and brownies.  My glance became more of a gawk, as I observed some interesting things taking place…

The brownies looked fantastic.  Standing over them, you could just about taste the chewy chocolate, covered with a thin - but delicious-looking frosting and a few walnut crumbs to top it off.  Next to them were the cookies - which also looked good, but … well… they just weren’t brownies.

As each individual stood over the table, with a napkin, they would pause, looking at the brownies.  Then - over at the cookies.  And back to the brownies.  The bad news?  Just about everyone took one or the other.  Everyone else was, right?  Why should they miss out?  And after all - they were “free” (part of the conference fee).

As I watched from the side, a question came to mind about the decisions.

If there was a little note next to each, with the number of additional steps that would need to be taken (walking) to burn off each item - would more people have chosen the cookies over the brownies?  Or - would some have said “hey - just not worth it.”

Theoretically, people know the difference in the choices in terms of calories.  In reality, I’m not sure that’s true.  Restaurants in some states are including calorie information on their menus.  Great first step (and a “thank you” to those doing so voluntarily!).  But what if they took it one step further, and put the number of steps required to burn off each item? (and yes - I know that varies based on your size, speed, etc - but you get the idea).

Would it matter?

With a couple of folks gearing up for races this weekend, we’ll bring down the length of the interval and provide some additional rest this time around…

• 10 Minute Warm-up
• 4 min at 5K race pace… 4 min rest
• 4 x 2 min interval at 1 mile pace… 2 min rest between each
• 4 min at 5K race pace… 4 min rest
• 4 x 1 min at 800 pace with 1 min rest
• 10 minute warm-down