Prevention is the reason

I gave a short talk to a group of young women the other day about Don’t Yuck My Yum and was explaining to them why I feel it is so important that we teach our children healthy habits. I was emphasizing the importance of prevention by way of small, repeated healthy efforts while they are young so we can make an impact on their health later.

I have the opportunity to work as a dietitian on both sides – the prevention side and the treatment side. Because I actually work in a hospital now and see all of the complications that can arise from unhealthy habits, I am even more so determined to stick with my mission of promoting prevention by starting with our children. I found a great resource and website that is full of information – anything you want to know about how obesity affects our country, both health-wise and financially.  F as in Fat -  How Obesity Threatens America’s Future is a project of the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It is definitely worth checking out if the topic interests you – http://www.fasinfat.org/.

Obesity is one of the biggest drivers of preventable chronic diseases and healthcare costs in the United States.  But have a look at this:

Half of what makes us healthy people is our healthy behaviors. Yet only 4 % of the money that we spend on actually being healthy comes from teaching those healthy behaviors to people. I would assume prevention efforts, diet education, supporting people in achieving their health goals is amongst that 4%. Doesn’t quite match up does it.