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Putting the “Health” Back in Healthcare

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By healthhabits, October 17, 2010

Canada’s healthcare system may be on the verge of a massive change.

Instead of continuing to spend billions of dollars simply treating the symptoms of disease, Canada’s health ministers have agreed that:

the promotion of health and the prevention of disease, disability and injury are a priority and necessary to the sustainability of the health system.

They also agreed that the main causes of death, disease and disability in Canada today are chronic diseases and injuries, and that a large proportion of chronic diseases, disabilities and injuries can be prevented, or at least delayed.

They continued by saying that more emphasis needs to be placed on the promotion of health and on preventing or delaying chronic diseases, disabilities, and injuries.

Doing this will improve the quality of life of Canadians while reducing disparities in health and the impact these conditions have on individuals, families, communities, the health-care system and on society.

OMG

A healthcare system that focuses on health.

Fingers crossed people.

.

Reference

• A Declaration on Prevention and Promotion from Canada’s Ministers of Health and Health Promotion/Healthy Living

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What Does Your Health Club Do For You?

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By healthhabits, October 11, 2010

What does your health club (or personal trainer, or iphone app, or online fitness community, or fitness magazine, etc) do for you?

If your club is like my club, then they….

• provide fitness equipment and space to exercise
• offer the advice of their in-house fitness professionals
• blend up the latest in post-workout nutrition
• schedule fitness classes at convenient times
• bring in guest speakers to increase your fitness IQ

And, if they do all that, then you’re getting top notch health club service.

So, why is it that after I read this article from marketing guru Seth Godin, I got the feeling that today’s health club industry is doomed for extinction?

Or hopefully…evolution.

Question(s)

Why is it that over 70% of all new health club members stop coming to the gym within 3 months?

And why is it that most of the remaining 30% don’t look much better than we they first joined?

And why is it that today’s health & fitness industry doesn’t seem to care?

The Answer?

Because the current health & fitness industry is still focused on delivering products and services instead of solutions.

Think about it – most people go to a health club to burn off some fat & to get fit.

How they do it is irrelevant.

Or at least it should be.

The goal is what matters……and the health club (or personal trainer, or iphone app, or online fitness community, or fitness magazine, etc) than can shift their focus toward the goals of their clients and away from the latest fitness trend becomes indispensable to their clients.

And in my opinion, this style of thinking is a big part of the reason why Crossfit has become a major player in the health & fitness industry.

They provide results better than anyone else.

.

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Achoo…you’re fat.

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By healthhabits, October 3, 2010

Cartoon by Rob Rogers

Imagine that you’ve let your diet slip over the past few months. Too many chalupas and not enough….real food.

Imagine that you’ve really started to pack the weight on.

Muffin top, love handles, saddle bags…all that stuff.

Luckily for you, medical science is working hard to provide you with an iron-clad excuse for your extra adipose.

An Obesity Virus.

And believe it or not, this may turn out to be a real thing.

When I first wrote about it, the science behind the obesity virus was pretty sketchy.

But now, we have research that shows that children who tested positive for adenovirus36 antibodies weighed almost 50 pounds more, on average, than children who were AD36-negative.

The Research

Dr. Jeffrey B. Schwimmer (UCSD) examined 124 children, ages 8 to 18, for the presence of antibodies specific to adenovirus 36 (AD36).

Results

• Slightly more than half of the children in the study (67) were considered obese.
• The researchers detected neutralizing antibodies specific to AD36 in 19 of the children (15 percent).
• The majority of the AD36-positive children (78 percent) were obese, with AD36 antibodies much more frequent in obese children (15 of 67) than in non-obese children (4 of 57).
• Children who were AD36-positive weighed almost 50 pounds more, on average, than children who were AD36-negative.
• Within the group of obese children, those with evidence of AD36 infection weighed an average of 35 pounds more than obese children who were AD36-negative.

So, what does this mean to you?

According to Dr. Schwimmer,

“Many people believe that obesity is one’s own fault or the fault of one’s parents or family. This work helps point out that body weight is more complicated than it’s made out to be. And it is time that we move away from assigning blame in favor of developing a level of understanding that will better support efforts at both prevention and treatment. These data add credence to the concept that an infection can be a cause or contributor to obesity”.

According to Health Habits,

This means absolutely nothing…..until the day that researchers develop an anti-viral that can block the effect of AD36.

We all know people who can eat whatever they want and never gain a pound. Lucky them.

Whether it’s a virus, hormonal imbalance, malfunctioning hypothalamus or simply bad eating habits learned at your parent’s kitchen table, we are ultimately responsible for our actions.

And if you’re one of those unlucky people infected with AD36, and you want to stay lean & fit, you’re just going to have to work a little harder than your buddy with the hollow leg.

Sorry.

.

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