© Jacquelyn Johnston, M.Ed. Diabesity Coach
I’m sure I’m not the only Canadian watching with much interest the progress of the health care bill south of the border. Many of us have relatives and friends there, and are hearing what it means to them.
As a Canadian I cannot imagine what has taken our friends south of the 49th parallel so long. 100 years, to quote President Obama. I’m sure proponents and opponents alike have many valid points to put forward. I’m not commenting on the politics or the economics of the bill.
That being said, here are a few observations from someone who has universal health care. In all the talks about the Bill two stakeholders have emerged: health insurance and doctors. That seems to surface in up 99% of the media reports.
It seems that the main source of concern is a serious diagnosis that could make you lose your house. That’s a terrible thing to have to happen to anyone, but wait! Let’s take a step back for a bit.
Has any regular citizen given a thought to why people end up getting that sick in the first place? And what the main triggers of chronic conditions are? Those are perhaps the first things to think of when we discuss any aspect of health care.
On TV last night I saw a mother with several young children going to a free mobile clinic to get care for her sick children. The woman was obese—I mean o-bese. That’s clue #1. That’s the top trigger. And oh, by the way, the doctor she went to see was obese too. Go figure.
Get this. Heart disease is the top killer in North America. Unfortunately, the first symptom is often sudden death. Not exactly a symptom that can be reversed. And one of the best way to reverse the trend is to buck it. How? Simple. Don’t get overweight. How to do this? Don’t dine on pretend food. Exercise daily. But you knew that.
You don’t need to trot to the doctor for the first symptom you have. Take some of the allergy ads for example. Take this and you breathe easy. Oh yeah? Yeah! Till the next attack.
Take this and your arthritis pain will go away. Yeah, right. It might for 20 minutes, but the arthritis will still be there.
Take this and your cholesterol will go down (and go on eating fries daily). Good plan. For a heart attack, that is. But don’t worry. The doctor will be there with the paddles.
Have three doughnuts for breakfast. Go ahead. Chomp down on them. Goodbye pancreas. Hello Diabetes.
You get my drift.
The Sick Care System is not a license to abuse your body. The name of the game is Prevention. Educated grocery shopping.
Folks, our kids are the fattest in the world. This is a generation marked to die before their parents. We’ve got an obesity crisis on our hands. A tsunami of obesity-and-diabetes called Diabesity. Health Care Reform can no longer be reactive.
You could begin with tape measure. What’s your height in inches or centimeters? How about your waist? If it’s more than half your height it’s time to take a serious look at your New Year’s resolutions! Why? Ask you question in a comment. I’ll be happy to tell you.
Next, if you go to Google you can calculate your Body Mass Index. Over 25? Your heart’s begging you to do something differently.
Enjoy the season, enjoy Christmas. I wish you the best of both. Talk soon. Any questions, just ask.
May the New Year bring you the best of health. Whether the bill gets signed into law or not doesn't change this: YOU are in charge of YOU!
Jacquelyn
Jacquelyn Johnston M.Ed.
Professional Health Coach and Educator,
Solutions and Support for Optimal Health
www.LifestyleForLongevity.com
www.LoseTwentyPoundsNow.com
Richmond, B.C. Canada
mail to:jj@lifestyleforlongevity.com
Tel. 604.276.8673 Fax. 604.276.8675
December 24, 2009
December 20, 2009
Kids and Early Treatment
© Jacquelyn Johnston, M.Ed. Diabesity Coach
Did you see that a heart-warming news clip on TV today? The Children’s Bridge Foundation in Canada brought 10-year-old Vietnamese orphan Son Phan here for “extreme” health care three years ago.
The Children’s Hospital in Boston has been treating him to remove a football-sized tumour on his face. Son Phan has already had 23 operations, and is hoping to return to Vietnam in January looking much better, and ready to celebrate the Lunar New Year in February.
The Canadian Foundation has been hosting Son for three years, and the child, who came with no English now speaks it as if the manor born. He just adores hockey, favouring the Pittsburgh Penguins.
When he returns to Vietnam he will have had the benefit of Canadian hosting as well as the generous services offered free by the surgeons at Children’s Hospital in Boston, Mass.
Son’s 24th operation will be on Christmas Eve, but when interviewed he said he was looking forward to it just before boarding the plane for Boston. A stunning example of the resilience of children. In tandem with that, a perfect example of how things get done when we share a friendly professional handshake across the border. I love those stories.
Many health issues in both our countries could be solved with cross-border cooperation: the climate crisis, the obesity crisis and the diabesity one, to cite a few. Did you know that kids have been getting it at record rates?
As the holiday season approaches its highest point we see the ads get over the top. Our malls look like fairyland, there’s obviously going to be a white Christmas in many cities, and sugary treats abound. In fact, it looks like the season of downing as much sugar as possible. Our kids are facing a future with diabetes.
A friend who has a lot of official parties to attend tells me he keeps seeing the same appies at various company events. Judging by the ads we see all over the city, as well as in the media, we have been conditioned to consume enough to look like Santa Claus, drink enough to fail a breathalyzer, then sleep it off if we make it home alive.
The part that makes me wonder is this: is the Holiday Season designed to help us get diabetes overnight? Take a look at the number of sweet treats like cookies that have an extra layer of sugar sprinkles on top. The chips that turn into sugar before the meal even starts. The appies that get swiftly converted into sugar. The gravy thickened with flour.
The alcoholic drinks that wash it all down—many of them have more calories than a piece of cake. All these are just peripherals. Then comes turkey overload, potatoes, wine and Christmas pudding (I know people who serve it with ice cream) or some such dessert. Enough to confuse an already-addled brain trying to sort out where to put it all!
I wonder if we’re trying to get high blood pressure, cholesterol, liver fatigue, kidney failure and scrambled brains all in one day. And encouraging our kids to while we're at it?
It’s been said that if North America continues to eat as it does now there will be no more well people in 50 years’ time. And that includes our kids.
Have a merry Christmas, but look after your second brain—your gut as well. My family decided several years ago that we’d have all the traditional things, but in their lighter version. If you’d like to know what that includes feel free to drop me an e-mail or make a comment. See you in the next blog.
And enjoy the first day of winter tomorrow.
Jacquelyn
Jacquelyn Johnston M.Ed.
Professional Health Coach and Educator,
Solutions and Support for Optimal Health
www.LifestyleForLongevity.com
www.LoseTwentyPoundsNow.com
Richmond, B.C. Canada
mail to:jj@lifestyleforlongevity.com
Tel. 604.276.8673 Fax. 604.276.8675
Did you see that a heart-warming news clip on TV today? The Children’s Bridge Foundation in Canada brought 10-year-old Vietnamese orphan Son Phan here for “extreme” health care three years ago.
The Children’s Hospital in Boston has been treating him to remove a football-sized tumour on his face. Son Phan has already had 23 operations, and is hoping to return to Vietnam in January looking much better, and ready to celebrate the Lunar New Year in February.
The Canadian Foundation has been hosting Son for three years, and the child, who came with no English now speaks it as if the manor born. He just adores hockey, favouring the Pittsburgh Penguins.
When he returns to Vietnam he will have had the benefit of Canadian hosting as well as the generous services offered free by the surgeons at Children’s Hospital in Boston, Mass.
Son’s 24th operation will be on Christmas Eve, but when interviewed he said he was looking forward to it just before boarding the plane for Boston. A stunning example of the resilience of children. In tandem with that, a perfect example of how things get done when we share a friendly professional handshake across the border. I love those stories.
Many health issues in both our countries could be solved with cross-border cooperation: the climate crisis, the obesity crisis and the diabesity one, to cite a few. Did you know that kids have been getting it at record rates?
As the holiday season approaches its highest point we see the ads get over the top. Our malls look like fairyland, there’s obviously going to be a white Christmas in many cities, and sugary treats abound. In fact, it looks like the season of downing as much sugar as possible. Our kids are facing a future with diabetes.
A friend who has a lot of official parties to attend tells me he keeps seeing the same appies at various company events. Judging by the ads we see all over the city, as well as in the media, we have been conditioned to consume enough to look like Santa Claus, drink enough to fail a breathalyzer, then sleep it off if we make it home alive.
The part that makes me wonder is this: is the Holiday Season designed to help us get diabetes overnight? Take a look at the number of sweet treats like cookies that have an extra layer of sugar sprinkles on top. The chips that turn into sugar before the meal even starts. The appies that get swiftly converted into sugar. The gravy thickened with flour.
The alcoholic drinks that wash it all down—many of them have more calories than a piece of cake. All these are just peripherals. Then comes turkey overload, potatoes, wine and Christmas pudding (I know people who serve it with ice cream) or some such dessert. Enough to confuse an already-addled brain trying to sort out where to put it all!
I wonder if we’re trying to get high blood pressure, cholesterol, liver fatigue, kidney failure and scrambled brains all in one day. And encouraging our kids to while we're at it?
It’s been said that if North America continues to eat as it does now there will be no more well people in 50 years’ time. And that includes our kids.
Have a merry Christmas, but look after your second brain—your gut as well. My family decided several years ago that we’d have all the traditional things, but in their lighter version. If you’d like to know what that includes feel free to drop me an e-mail or make a comment. See you in the next blog.
And enjoy the first day of winter tomorrow.
Jacquelyn
Jacquelyn Johnston M.Ed.
Professional Health Coach and Educator,
Solutions and Support for Optimal Health
www.LifestyleForLongevity.com
www.LoseTwentyPoundsNow.com
Richmond, B.C. Canada
mail to:jj@lifestyleforlongevity.com
Tel. 604.276.8673 Fax. 604.276.8675
Labels:
dessert,
diabesity,
diabetes,
health care,
holidays,
obesity,
US-Canada cooperation
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