This week I was very interested to tune in again to see Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, and it was all about shock tactics- getting people to see and feel the consequences of their food choices.The first was teaching teens the concept of calories, where students were given the choice of a snack and then had to work off the equivalent calories they had just consumed by doing laps around an athletic field (with weighted backpacks). To give you an example, one orange needed 3 laps to be worked off, while a candy bar needed 11 laps. There were other things like overfilling a car with a week's worth of fast foods, and people sharing their life stories of what it's like to live with their diabetes, obesity, hypertension etc. There's nothing like lighting a fire under your behind to get you moving, and I think Mr Oliver and his team are doing a great job in getting people to change their eating habits, despite barriers from the LA school board.
In practice most of us don't have the luxury of these same sensory shock tactics, but in the days before I had kids when I was in full time practice, I used to share rooms with a family physician. I don't know exactly what she said to her patients, but some of them used to run into my office to make an appointment as if their life depended on it (which in many cases it did). Now that's excellent healthcare- getting patients motivated in such a way as to seek dietary and lifestyle advice as if a fire had been lit under them.
Also, if you're a fan of Dr Oz, you may find his June cover story in Time magazine to be interesting reading. It's one thing to dispense advice to change your lifestyle, but when you become the patient it's funny how things change- this article provides excellent insight into what it's like to be the patient with the disease, and how important it is to take your doctor's advice seriously.
Take some time today to honestly review your health- it may just save your life!
No comments:
Post a Comment