Time for a New Healthcare Revolution

Happy Friday morning! I hope you're having a great day and have a wonderful, on-plan weekend planned.

I read an interesting article yesterday entitled "Eating Our Way to Illness." As the healthcare debate continues to wage in Washington, I believe attention needs to be focused on what is driving much of the skyrocketing costs. According to the article, "Annually we're spending $147 billion to treat obesity, $116 billion to treat diabetes and hundreds of billions more to treat cardiovascular disease and the many types of cancer that have been linked to the so-called Western diet. One recent study estimated that 30 percent of the increase in health care spending during the past 20 years could be attributed to the soaring rate of obesity, a condition that now accounts for nearly one-tenth of all spending on health care." (Here's a link to the entire article, if you're interested: http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/09/eating_our_way_to_illness.html)

Obesity is not only killing us - shortening our lives and diminishing the quality of our lives, but it is crippling our healthcare system.

The article I referenced discusses targeting the food industry, but I'm not here to enter into that debate. The truth is that we have to choose a healthier lifestyle. Regardless of what the food industry does, nobody forces us to eat the food it produces. The food industry has made unhealthy food cheap and convenient, but that doesn't negate our ability and responsibility to make healthier choices for ourselves and our families. Blaming the food industry turns us into victims, and we're not. Every time I drove through the Golden Arches, it was my choice to do so. Every time I shopped down the chips and snacks aisle at the grocery store, it was my choice to purchase the food and then eat it. Yes, there are way too many unhealthy food options out there, and yes, I believe the food industry's bottom line is profit, not nutrition, but WE make the choices.

Making the choice to get to a healthy weight and stay there is going against the culture and it certainly isn't easy. But it's worth the effort! If we stay on plan and reach our goal, we may just inspire our family members and friends to get healthy. If they get to a healthy weight and inspire others, who then do the same for THEIR family members and friends, we just might see a change in the health of our country. How's that for a lofty goal?

I think it's time for a new kind of healthcare revolution, and it can begin with you and me - one on-plan day at a time!