Health Reform - What's NOT being said

Notice, I said Health Reform, not Health Care Reform.  Granted, health CARE reform is a topic being hotly debated, well actually, it’s more about health insurance reform.  What’s not being discussed is that it is up to us as individuals to reform our own personal health, and in order to do that, one must make changes to lifestyle choices that affect our health as individuals.  What’s not being talked about is prevention.  What’s not being talked about is people taking responsibility for reforming their personal health.

I don’t think anyone is going to argue the fact that as a nation, we are unfit and unhealthy.  We all have heard the reports that the obesity rate is skyrocketing and is costing us billions of dollars in health care costs.  Most of the illnesses and diseases are directly related to obesity.

Childhood obesity is at an all time high.  What’s going to happen to all the children who are obese today when they become adults tomorrow?  What’s not being talked about is Health Education in schools ─ teaching children about what good health is, what lifestyle choices promote it, teaching them what good nutrition is and the importance of exercise. 

For adults, the latest studies talk about how Obesity Can Increase Dementia Risk By Up To 80 Percent.  This is quite serious considering that over half of the adult population is obese.  Dementia could become an epidemic.

Let’s face it.  You’d have to be pretty darn ignorant to not know all the various chronic conditions, diseases and illnesses that afflict the majority of the population is due to poor lifestyle choices.  Diseases such as diabetes, hypertension (aka – High Blood Pressure), heart disease, etc.  Simply put, the diseases we’re trying to manage are lifestyle related and therefore preventable.

Study after study proves how diet and exercise can help prevent or alleviate just about every disease there is, yet, doctors are not telling their patients that they need to exercise or ask them about their eating habits and refer them to a nutritionist to help teach them how they can make better food choices.  They’re not having a conversation about prevention – choosing the right foods, keeping your body active and managing stress.  Nope, they’re treating the effect with prescription medications, instead of addressing and treating the cause.

The cost of health care is hurting us economically as a nation, and as individuals.  All too often I encounter people with health issues that could be remedied or lessen the severity of their illness naturally with an exercise program and better nutritional choices.  However, as a society, we have been programmed by the pharmaceutical industry to just pop a pill to make it better when in fact, you’re not.  The cure lies in prevention and let’s face it, prevention means change and most people are very resistant to change.  It’s easier to pop a pill than to exercise.  It’s easier to pop a pill, hit the nearest fast food drive through than go to the supermarket and cook a healthy, nutritious meal.

We as individuals and as a nation need to change the way we think when it comes to our health.  As a fitness professional and natural health advocate, I feel that the root of prevention is teaching people how to make the right choices about food, how to keep your body physically active, how to deal with stress.

It all starts with us as individuals taking responsibility and reforming our own personal health.  It’s never too late to start.