Archive for the ‘Content that Can Change Behavior’ Category
During some recent channel surfing I came upon the show “Extreme Makeover – Weight Loss Edition.” I’m not typically interested in any show that begins with the word “Extreme” but this one grabbed my attention. Each episode features a morbidly obese person who can’t seem to make the necessary lifestyle changes to lose weight, even when it destroys health and happiness.
These folks are helicoptered out of their real lives (jobs and family) and taken to a remote destination where temptation is removed, they’re put on a strict diet and pummeled into shape by a celebrity trainer. They come back transformed … healthier, thinner, happier.
The premise of this show really bothered me – even though I cared about and was interested in the people and their heart-wrenching stories. They are suffering, physically and emotionally, and they obviously need help losing the weight—they would not be in this situation (250 lbs. or more overweight) if they could do it on their own. And this approach is one solution but, of course, few get to leave life behind for six months to live on a private island staffed with chefs and a celebrity trainer. (The real life “extreme” option here might be bariatric surgery.)
But I found myself wondering about the show’s message. Shows like this support our cultural bias toward doing everything to an “extreme” and leave people feeling that extreme measures are the only option.
This is not a practical approach to managing health and weight – whether you’re trying to lose weight or prevent obesity from happening in the first place. Lifestyle change involves small, subtle changes – micro-decisions even, and not that many! – that people can and must undertake on their own. To accomplish this they often don’t need much more than some information and practical advice, consistent reminders and the support of friends and family (for instance, willing walking partners and a spouse who doesn’t mind getting rid of tempting food in the kitchen cabinets).
Now that may not make for great television, but it’s a whole lot more practical and effective.
If January is always the time when people think about weight loss, it seems all the more so this year — the past six months or so have seen a sea change in how America thinks about obesity. There is less judgment and more urgency. It’s a national crisis (becoming a global one) and everyone knows what has to change. Americans need to get healthy and like it or not, for about half the population that means losing weight.
“Reshaping the Conversation on Health and Weight” is a great and important effort on behalf of The National Eating Disorders Association and the STOP Obesity Alliance to develop positive and helpful — not hurtful or harmful — ways of talking about being overweight. A panel of experts, including medical experts and people from the media among others, gathered to create a set of guidelines on how to discuss weight loss efforts in the healthiest ways. It’s aimed at the media (the “key source of public information about weight”) and implores those of us in a position to spread the message to change the message.
You can read the entire report here but here’s a quick preview:
The Media Should Convey That ...
Weight is about health, not a number on a scale or appearance expectations.
Incremental and sustained weight loss is safe, healthy and advisable. (suggestions include “discuss the health benefits of modest, incremental weight loss” and “place the emphasis on the weight-loss process rather than the ‘big reveal’ after large and rapid weight loss”)
Weight status doesn’t necessarily reflect health status. (“talk about health indicators, such as A1C, cholesterol and blood pressure and spread the message that good numbers for these health indicators are not tied to size …”)
It takes more than just willpower to lose weight — a strong support system is necessary.
BMI is one of many factors in determining a person’s weight as it relates to health.
Body size and shape are chiefly determined by inherited factors and strongly influenced by environmental factors. (“communicate more about the obesigenic environment in which we live …”)
It’s excellent advice … and advice that we here at Balance will be keeping in mind in our upcoming efforts in health messaging.
Meanwhile, happy new year!
People with cancer want to survive … and then they want to thrive.
Cancer survivors want attention, they want communication and they want help. This is an enormous, and growing, demographic. Though their cancer is behind them, they have unique and continuing medical needs. A growing body of research is emerging showing that cancer patients are more likely than people who haven’t had cancer to be diagnosed with a different type of cancer and to develop cardiovascular problems. Young cancer survivors may have issues with infertility. Cancer treatment, including both radiation therapy and chemotherapy, appears to leave cognitive deficits.
But these people have beat cancer – and they want to stay healthy.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 9.8 million Americans have survived cancer – here is how the statistics look:
- 64 percent of adults whose cancer is diagnosed today can expect to be living in five years
- Breast cancer survivors make up the largest group of cancer survivors (22 percent) followed by prostate cancer survivors (17 percent) and colorectal cancer survivors (11 percent)
- The majority (61 percent) of cancer survivors are aged 65 and older
- An estimated one of every six people over age 65 is a cancer survivor
- Seventy-nine percent of childhood cancer survivors will be living five years after diagnosis and nearly 75 percent will be living 10 years following diagnosis.
To learn more about what cancer patients want, take a look at this guest post by Bruce Campbell, MD, on MedPage Today’s Kevin , MD blog …no one can say it better than those who’ve walked this road. And few are in a better position to give this group of people what they need than their local hospital!
As sodium is the new “hot button” in the health and food arena today, you – and your hospital’s patients – are likely well aware that eating a lower sodium diet can be one of the most important lifestyle changes to help manage hypertension.
Yet a recent survey shows that only one-third of people with hypertension actually follow the guidelines of eating less than 2,000 milligrams of sodium daily (that works out to be about 1 teaspoon of table salt). Even more surprising — most of the study participants were eating more than 2,600 milligrams … while thinking they were reducing the amount of sodium in their diet by not adding extra salt to their food. This is an opportunity for hospitals to reach out to the community and offer valuable advice and information, “localizing” a national awareness effort that we’ll all be hearing plenty about in the weeks and months to come.
What’s the message?
Nutrition experts warn that simply leaving the salt shaker off the table is not enough because 70% of the sodium in the American diet comes from processed foods such as hot dogs, sausage, bacon, lunchmeat, frozen dinners/pizza, fast food, canned soups and salad dressings.
You can shake the hidden sodium out of your daily diet by making small changes:
• Look for low-sodium options of your favorite foods like canned soups and frozen meals.
• Eat more fruits and vegetables at every meal – they’re naturally low in sodium.
• Make your own salad dressings and pizzas so you can control the ingredients.
• Challenge yourself to pack lunch/make dinner one more day a week vs. visiting the fast food drive-thru.
American Heart Association’s 10th Scientific Forum on Quality of Care and Outcomes Research in Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke in Washington, D.C.
This blog entry was written for Balance Health Communications by Guest blogger – Deanna Segrave-Daly, RD of Teaspoon Communications.
Teaspoon Communications is a food-first nutrition communication group, founded by three registered dietitians. Teaspoon nutritionists consult with a variety of health and food organizations, specializing in nutrition message development with a culinary twist. Visit www.teaspooncomm.com for services, spicy stories and more!
Can a pedometer be the new cool tool? Maybe, if you can help people get enthusiastic about using one. Pedometers come in all price ranges from free (lots of companies give away freebies … maybe your organization can give them out at health fairs, for instance) all the way up to $100 or more — and those devices have lots of extra gadgetry to add to the motivation. But getting pedometers to the people who need them is only the first step … now they have to get moving to the tune of taking 10,000 or more steps each day, which is the goal. That’s lots more walking than you might guess — and in fact, is more walking than most people do in several days! This blog offers some creative ideas for how to use a pedometer to get more mileage into your day – literally.
An easy-to-execute and inexpensive way you can encourage people in your community to “step up” their activity level is to offer an online tracking program at your hospital site – or even just a simple, down-loadable graph they can keep for themselves. Here’s one you can adapt.
