Center for Health Transformation Georgia Project

Iowa Healthiest State Initiative

All Iowa communities can take the first step to becoming Blue Zones Communities! Ten communities that demonstrate the greatest passion, interest and ability to bring their community together will receive assistance from national experts to develop and implement a blueprint for making permanent environment, policy and social network changes that transition people into healthier behaviors. These communities will become demonstration sites and share their learnings with other communities in Iowa who are employing Blue Zones principles. Businesses will also take the lead by transforming their worksites, followed by government, schools and non-profit organizations. The communities will be selected in February 2012.

The progress of the communities will be measured using the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index®, the first-ever daily assessment of U.S. residents’ health and well-being.   Data from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index reveals there is significant opportunity in Iowa for improvement, particularly among healthy behaviors and work environments.  The Blue Zones Project will help employers and communities achieve greater well-being, which should lead to lower healthcare costs, higher productivity and increased economic viability.  Be on the lookout for more posts on Iowa as the initiative progresses!

 

Healthier Holidays

I noticed an interesting trend in reviewing data on the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index website.  Healthy behaviors begin to decrease in September and continue to decrease through December with an upward trend beginning in January.  The trend was seen in 2008 and 2009 data.  It will be interesting to see if the trend holds true in 2010.  It seems that holidays trigger unhealthy behaviors - over eating, eating foods high in fat and sugar, decreased exercise - followed by New Year resolutions that start a period of healthier behavior.

The data made me think about ways to have healthier holidays.  With Halloween coming up this weekend and Thanksgiving later in November, the challenge is to have celebrations that support a healthy lifestyle.  Cutting out some of the sugar in the Halloween treats [and the volume of treats] is certainly a place to start. 

Using less fat and sugar in preparing Thanksgiving dinner and  following  dinner with a family walk around the neighborhood would be a good tradition to start in 2010.  Small changes can have big results.  Would love to hear your suggestions for healthier holidays!

Do We Value Health?

As I've been working with some colleagues on a healthy communinity initiative we've been talking a lot about the state of the health of Americans.  With the statistics on obesity in this country, the lack of physical activity in our schools, the lack of healthy eating habits, and the resistance to change to a unhealthy behaviors, I don't think that the majority of Americans do value health.  There is a focus on health care  right now, but very little focus on health. 

Health requires that the individual take control and make the right choices.  Health is not always easy.  Health requires we change our behavior.  That we say 'no' to our children.  That we say 'no' to ourselves.  Let's spend a little less time finding ways for the government to take care of us and find ways to take care of ourselves.  Get the family to take a walk tonight after dinner; limit computer time; take the dog for a walk - make one change to make you and your family more active.  Find healthier ways to prepare your meals - use olive oil, switch to whole grain bread, add fresh vegetables [find your local farmer's market].  Make health a focus in your life.  Help your children form those habits that will bring them a lifetime of health; not those habits that will continue them on the unhealthy path the majority of Americans are on.

Food Revolution

I was just introduced to a new TV show - ' Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.'  For an eye-opening look into food and our children check out this series.  Jamie is a chef from Essex who believes that every child in America has the right to fresh, nutritious school meals, and that every family deserves real, honest, wholesome food. He is starting a movement to get Americans to stand up for better food!

In one part of the series Jamie talked with a group of 5-year olds and quizzed them on identifying different foods.  He picked up a raw potato and asked if anyone knew what it was.  Not one child knew.  Then he held up a red, ripe tomato and again, not one child could identify it.  The same with cauliflower and other fresh vegetables.  Then he held up pizza - identified!  The same with french fries, chicken nuggets, hamburgers. It reflects the foods many of our children are exposed to and which ones they are not. 

I'm looking forward to seeing the series unfold and observing transformation in progress.  This series will provide some great lessons on changing health behaviors.  From the school system, to the individual school, to the homes, the parents and the children it will be an amazing journey.  Check it out on Friday evenings, 9 pm EST on ABC.

Monitoring Your Health

There are some very good tools available to help us monitor our health.  One such tool is Heart360(R). Available on the American Heart Association website, Heart360(R) is a convenient and secure location for you to track and manage your heart health. 

You can record your health data with the online trackers, access additional information and resources on how to be heart healthy, and share your results with your health care provider.   You can track your blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose, medications, weight and physical activity at the site.  Take charge of your health!  Start today. 

Abnormal Lipids in Young People

A report released by the CDC in January of this year reports that twenty percent of young people aged 12-19 years in the U.S. have at least one abnormal lipid level.  Abnormal lipid levels are major risk factors for heart disease, the leading cause of death among adults in the U.S.

The report examined data for 1999–2006 from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).  The survey is an ongoing study that explores the health and nutritional status of about 6000 participants each year.   The researchers analyzed measurements of the major types of fat that circulate in the body: LDL or low-density lipoprotein [“bad” cholesterol]; HDL or high density lipoprotein [“good” cholesterol]; and triglycerides, a type of fat that provides your body with energy.

The researchers found that young people who were overweight or obese were more likely to have one or more abnormal lipid levels compared to normal weight youth. One or more abnormal lipid levels were found in fourteen percent of normal weight youth, 22 percent of overweight youth, and 43 percent of obese youth.

This is yet another report supporting the need to improve the health of our children. 

Success of the Vitality Project in Albert Lea, MN

The Vitality Project in Albert Lea, MN came to it's official end on Tuesday evening.  A project spearheaded by Dan Buetter, founder of Blue Zones and supported by AARP and United Health Foundation, the project focused on changing the health of a community through a 6 week intensive application of those principles found to increase longevity.

Some of the successes of the project included the following: 2,300 people officially participated; a walking/biking trail was completed around Fountain Lake; thousands of feet of sidewalk were added; hundreds of kids walked to school in walking school buses and more than 600 citizens joined walking groups; nearly a thousand Albert Leans took part in purpose workshops; and two-thirds of locally owned restaurants added longevity-promoting foods to their menus.

For additional information on the community project in Albert Lea, MN visit:

Good Morning America

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/VitalityProject/vitality-project-make-town-healthier/story?id=8818625

 

Front page story in the Pioneer Press

www.pioneerpress.com

 

AP story –

www.associatedpress.com

The Vitality Project provides an excellent model for other communities as they begin the journey to transform the health of their citizens.

Five Pounds of Fat

When I was at the launch of the Fayette Healthy Community Partnership I stopped by one of the exhibits at the Kroger store and spoke with Denise Bennett, Diabetes Education Coordinator at Piedmont Fayette Hospital.  Denise was educating the community on nutrition.  Her table was scattered with rubber models of food items, showing healthy choices and healthy portions.  Next to the fake food items was something that caught my eye - a rubber model of a glob of human fat - five pounds to be exact. 

Denise Bennett, Diabetes Education Coordinator at Piedmont Fayette Hospital
with the model of five pounds of fat.

I was surprised at how much volume five pounds of fat actually is. Having been hooked on "The Biggest Loser" show this past season and seeing dramatic weight loss I began underestimating the impact of losing 1 to 2 pounds a week.  That slow, steady pace had worked for me but somehow I lost that message.  We tend to set weight loss goals that set us up for failure.  Losing weight when one is overweight, even modest amounts, has a positive impact.  Studies show that if overweight individuals with diabetes loses 5% to 10% of their weight, they will significantly reduce their blood sugar.  Weight loss can also lower blood pressure and cholesterol.

Appreciate the impact a few pounds of weight loss a week can have, how this steady pace can add up to a significant change in your health status, and stay the course.

Know Your Numbers!

I attended the launch of a new '21st Century Healthy Community' project recently in Fayette County, Georgia.  The Fayette Healthy Community Partnership is a collaboration of health care provider organizations, employers, retailers, and other businesses and groups brought together by locals Daye Bexley and Terry Womack to promote health and wellness in Fayette and Coweta Counties.  Leaders of the Partnership include the Piedmont Fayette and Newnan Hospitals and the Piedmont Heart Institute, Kroger Stores and Pharmacies, the Center for Health Transformation, and Novo Nordisk.

One of the highlights of the launch was the health screening and education held at the local Kroger Store.  Screening included Body Mass Index, blood pressure, blood sugar, total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, Triglycerides and percent body fat.  A 'Heart Health Scorecard' was provided by Piedmont Heart Institute, the Center for Health Transformation, and the Piedmont Fayette and Piedmont Newnan Hospitals.  If every individual knew these numbers, what they meant and simple steps to improving them we would make progress in improving the health of our nation. 

Initiatives such as these are key to better health at lower cost.  Visit the Center for Health Transformation website to learn more about '21st Century Healthy Community Initiatives.'

Blue Zones

My friends at Healthways introduced me to a book and movement on adding healthy years to our lives. The book, The Blue Zones: Lessons for living longer from the people who've lived the longest, is by Dan Buettner.  Dan is the founder of Blue Zones, an organization that helps Americans live longer, healthier lives.  The book is an amazing journey with Dan and his team as they learn from Centenarians from areas of the world with concentrations of the longest living people.  These areas, called Blue Zones, are found in Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; Loma Linda, California; and the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica.

The book concludes with the nine lessons of the Blue Zones - the world's best practices in health and longevity.  The chapter is filled with practical strategies for applying these lessons.  Applying just a few of them will certainly improve one's health.

The Blue Zones website contains a tool - the Vitality Compass - that calculates your potential life expectancy, your healthy life expectancy, the number of extra years you could gain if you optimize your lifestyle, and suggestions to help you with that plan.

I'd be interested in your thoughts about the book and website.  I found the book an interesting read - one that is hard to put down.  It was full of funny and heartwarming stories and of health and longevity information that I put to immediate use.  Applying lessons from the Blue Zones definitely would improve the health of our communities - and who know, perhaps we could turn the tide and create a few more Blue Zones in America with future generations.