Understanding Wellness for a Healthy Life

1. Chapters 1Understanding Fitness and Wellness& Chapter 2Changing Personal Behaviors for Optimal Wellness

2. Why Does Wellness Matter? How long do you want to live? 125 years? How long do you expect to live? 85 years? 321 Millions People live in the US. 2015 Statistics from the WHO (World Health Organization) http://www.who.int/gho/mortality_burden_disease/life_tables/hale/en/ Life Expectancy – how long you will live. US: 79.3 Females: 81.6 Males: 76.9 Healthy Life Expectancy – how long you will live without disability or major illness. US: 69.1 (not in the top 25 nations) Japan is #1: 74.9 Females: 70.4 Males: 67.7 http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.HALE?lang=en Why are their drastic differences in males and females? • Many professionals believe it is because females visit a Dr. at an earlier age and more often.

3. Why Does Wellness Matter? "The position of the United States is one of the major surprises of the new rating system," says Christopher Murray, M.D., Ph.D., Director of WHO's Global Program on Evidence for Health Policy. "Basically, you die earlier and spend more time disabled if you’re an American rather than a member of most other advanced countries.“ • Steven Schroeder’s 2007 paper in the New England Journal of Medicine, We Can Do Better — Improving the Health of the American People. It opens with exactly that question: “The United States spends more on health care than any other nation in the world, yet it ranks poorly on nearly every measure of health status. How can this be? What explains this apparent paradox?” • Shroeder’sanswer starts by saying “poor health care” isn’t really the answer. “Poor health” comes first, driven by poverty and inequality and by individual behavior in social contexts (e.g., smoking and obesity). Once people are sick or vulnerable to poor health, then care matters, and here the United States “even in those instances in which health care is important, too many Americans do not receive it, receive it too late, or receive poor-quality care.”

4. Why Does Wellness Matter? Things that are major factors in a countries ranking; • Smoking • Activity Levels • High Sugar Diets • Violence – Ex. We rank out of the top 50 in death casued by violence (US 5.56 per 100,000, Japan .28) • Traffic Accidents: Ex. Sweden has 3.2 deaths from traffic accidents per 100,000. The US has 12.6! Health Care? • The answer isn’t in more spending in dollars. US spends $8,500 per person, the next closest country only spends $5,600. • Could it be coverage? Only 31% of the US population has public medical coverage, 20 other countries have 100% public coverage. Yes, all of those countries rank above the US in Healthy Life Expectancy. • US ranks very low with the number of doctor visits a year (below 4), countries above the US usually have 6 or more visits per year. • We also rank very low in doctor satisfaction with our doctor visits compared to other countries, we usually rank in the low 80s in doctor satisfaction, while higher ranked countries doctors score in the mid to high 90s in patient satisfaction regarding time spent with the doctor and easy-to-understand explanation from the doctor. • So we don’t go to the doctor enough? Why don’t we go to the doctor? It appears because we have poor medical coverage, its extremely expensive, and we aren’t satisfied with the time the doctor spends explaining the finding and recommendation in the visit.

5. Cancer and Heart Disease dominate the reasons Americans die early and have a lose of a healthy life. The US ranks among the worst industrialized countries in the world in both of these. *See Figure 6 on page 35 for leading causes of death for Americans. See Doc 5 - Obesity rates (17%) among all children (ages 2-19) in the United States from the CDC. Major Factors • The higher the head of household education level the lower the obesity level. • Lower the family income the higher the obesity level. *These two usually go hand-in-hand, education level and income level. See Doc 6 – are schools really to blame for Americas growing rate of child obesity? • Supports that the obesity rates in children are more impacted by the influence at home. US Surgeon General reports Overeating & Lack of Physical Activity as the major problems in the US.

6. The Academic Struggles of College Students! A majority of college students report stress, depression, anxiety, inadequate sleep, frequent colds, and relationship problems as factors that negatively affect their academic performance. Excitement of “being on your own”, but also overwhelmed. Change of diet. Change of sleeping and social habits. Drugs and alcohol. Can students improve their academics by having a better approach toward their wellness?

7. What is Wellness? Wellness can be achieved by practicing a healthy lifestyle that includes regular physical activity, proper nutrition, eliminating unhealthy behaviors, and maintaining good emotional and spiritual health. Healthy lifestyles? Physical activity? Proper nutrition? Unhealthy behaviors? Good emotional and spiritual health? What are these and how do I know if I am adequately implementing the practices of these in my everyday life?

8. 6 Components of Wellness The components do not work well in isolation. Focusing on one area is unhealthy. Example: Anxiety or depression can cause chronic physical illnesses.

9. Physical Health – physical fitness, lack of disease,/sickness, nutrition, sleep, personal safety. Emotional Health – (mental health) how you feel about yourself and others; social skills, relationships, self-esteem, stress coping, emotional control and expression. Intellectual Health – keeping you mind active and functioning at a high level. Thinking clearly, quickly, creatively, and critically. What happens to school age kids when they take summer off from learning? See Doc 7 and Doc 8 Achievement scores decline over the summer break. Math more than reading and writing. The higher the social economic status of the students family the less the scores decline over the summer. Lack of available opportunity to practice appears to be the reason.

10. Are our brains stressed? See Doc 9 TV suppresses brain waives that are associated with perception and consciousness and higher mental activity (gamma brain waves). Especially shows such as Sponge Bob because of the continues fast cutting clips during the episode suppresses the gamma brain waves. Can our brains be trained like muscles. See Doc 10 Mental stimulation improves brain function and actually protects against cognitive decline, as does physical exercise. "So muscle activity is a cue to keep a synapse stable, and synaptic inactivity is a cue to disassemble a synapse," says Lichtman, a professor of neurobiology. "So if you lose activity, you lose receptors. But if you regain activity, you get those receptors back.“ Other supportive research: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/677048.stm A study out of University College of London lead by Dr. Eleanor Maguire reports that taxi drivers brains grew the longer they were on the job due to learning the navigational routes of London.

11. Spiritual Health – sense of meaning and purpose. Establishes values, experience love, joy, pain, and sorrow; and to care for and respect all living things. Social Health – relationships with good communication, social network of friends and family. Helps you feel confident in social interactions and provides you with emotional security. Environmental Health – influence the environment (home, work, community, school, etc) has on your health. Are these areas relaxing, safe havens or toxic, threatening places, and stressful? How are your influences/impact on the environment. Air and water pollutions. What is your footprint on the earth?

12. Could Good Wellness Benefit Society as a Whole? • What would lower stress level do for society? Could this lead to less crime and violence, maybe even less traffic accidents? Less anxiety and depression? • How about higher energy levels? Better production out of the work force? More focus? • In 2005 Americans spent $2 Trillion on health care and health insurance! These cost are sky rocketing each year. Could this money be better spent on our schools and our environment, even or infrastructure?

13. Physical Activity vs ExercisePhysical Activity – all movement regardless of level of energy expenditure.Exercise – conditioning activities and sports, done specifically for health and fitness benefits.How can both improve your physical health?What are ways we can incorporate both into our daily lives?

14. Benefits of Regular Exercise • Reduced Risk of Heart Disease • Reduced Risk of Diabetes • Increased Bone Mass • Improved Psychological Well-Being • Increased Longevity • Easier Aging

15. Health Related Fitness • Cardiorespiratory Endurance • Muscular Strength • Muscular Endurance • Flexibility • Body Composition

16. How Can I Change My Behavior to Increase My Wellness? • Understand the Stages of Behavior Change – there is usually a gradual process of moving from awareness to action. • Increase Your Awareness - understanding what is required to achieve wellness. Ex. Are low fat diets working? Is running the best way to get physically fit? • Contemplate Change – research shows that finding a specific habit and starting with changing it is better than a total overhaul of your lifestyle. • Prepare for Change – Finding your motivation and setting goals,while understanding barriers. • Take Action to Change – none of it matters unless you take action. Executing any plan is better than a great plan that is not executed!

17. Finding Credible Health Info • Do the claims made about this product seem too good to be true? • Has all of the supporting research been conducted or funded by the company that makes the product or offers the service? • Are the claims about the product supported by quality scientific research? • Is there information available about short and long-term effects? • Does the information fit with the information I am learning in class? Cross check it with other research. • Are potential risks and side effects of products and services mentioned? • Are the experts endorsing the product or service really experts in their field? *Answering yes to the first two questions should always be red flag! If you can answer yes to the remaining questions, the product or service might be worth considering. Site the false info regarding fat from Harvard study. You should always question findings as you continue to educate yourself.