Worksite Wellness/Health Economics
Avian Flu Update
The avian flu continues to pose the largest threat to the health of our nation in modern times. It is important to stay informed and make preparation for this potential pandemic. A study by the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the consequences of this pandemic in the United States could include...
More...
Public Health Strategies for Pandemic Flu
The U.S. government continues to make preparation for a possible bird flu pandemic. Because of the potential rapid spread of this highly lethal strain of the flu, the large numbers of people expected to be infected, and difficulty in rapidly producing flu immunizations and effective treatments, it is expected that effective medical measures will be extremely scarce. Traditional public health interventions may be our primary defense. Here are 8 public health strategies listed recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association...
More...
Research Highlights
Vitamin D and Lung Health
Research continues to come up with new health benefits of getting adequate vitamin D. Prior studies have shown vitamin D to be beneficial in preventing certain cancers, diabetes, high blood pressure, and osteoporosis. This recent study suggests it's helpful in improving lung function.
More...
Calcium, Vitamin D, and Fractures
Is calcium helpful in building stronger bones and preventing fractures? News reports from the Women's Health Initiative at first glance appear to say no. The study included 36,282 women 50 and older. Half received 1,000 mg of calcium and 400 IU of vitamin D daily. The other half received a placebo. After 7 years fracture rates were compared between the two groups. For the whole study, fracture rates were 12% lower in those receiving the calcium and vitamin D but the difference was not quite statistically significant. Some concluded that calcium was not helpful in preventing fractures.
More...
Glycemic Variability
New diabetes management research indicates that glycemic variability (short term high peaks of blood sugar levels) is very damaging, resulting in high levels of oxidative stress causing damage to the eyes, kidneys, and nerves. Developing good blood glucose management techniques to limit blood sugar variability may hold the key to limiting diabetic complications, even more importantly than reducing HbA1c levels. Examples of ways to limit blood glucose variability in diabetics include...
More...
Glycemic Index and Eye Health
New research from the Women's Health Study shows that eating a high glycemic index diet (rapidly absorbed carbohydrates) is linked to a higher risk of developing age related macular degeneration (AMD). AMD is a leading cause of blindness in older persons in the U.S. The study included over 1,000 cases with 10 years of follow-up. Women with high glycemic diets (top 1/3) were 2.7 times more likely to develop AMD than women eating a low glycemic index diet (bottom 1/3). Total carbohydrate was not linked to increased risk indicating that the kind or quality of carbohydrate eaten is more important than the amount.
More...
Dietary Fiber and Heart Health
One of the new markers for heart disease risk is high sensitivity C-reactive protein, commonly referred to as CRP. CRP is a marker for acute inflammation in the arteries, which is often the critical reason for artery plaques rupturing causing heart attacks and strokes. Anything that can lower CRP is believed to reduce the risk of a serious cardiovascular event.
More...
TV Watching and Calorie Intake in Children
TV has become a dominant influence in the lives of most Americans, especially children. On average, children watch more than 3 hours of television every day (often more on weekends). During this time children see about 40,000 television commercials per year. Programs designed for children show one food commercial every 5 minutes. Then we wonder why our children are becoming obese at an alarming rate.
More...
Healthy Aging - How Are We Doing?
As a nation, we are doing well in some areas and not so well in others. Here is a brief summary of key health indicators and statistics. You be the judge. Data is based on interviews conducted randomly throughout the United States on 40,000 people aged 55 or older. You may want to compare yourself with these statistics. Are you doing better, worse, or about the same?
More...
Quick Facts
Overweight Update
The National Center for Health Statistics has updated their prevalence figures for overweight and obesity in the United States. Here’s the latest:
In the last 20 years, the prevalence of obesity in the U.S. doubled in adults. Overweight prevalence in children and adolescents tripled in the same time. Currently, 1 in 6 children and adolescents (17.1%) are significantly overweight. In children and adolescents, overweight has increased in just the past 4 years from 14% to 18.2% for males, and from 13.8% to 16% for females. Currently, 1 in 3 adults (32.2%) are obese. The increase in excess weight in the last 4 years was most pronounced in children and men. There was no significant change in obesity rates for women during this time period. Obesity rates were much higher in African-American (45%) and Hispanic (36.8%) adults, compared to white adults (30%).
Reference: JAMA. 2006;295:1549-55. Apr. 5, 2006.
Marriage and Physical Activity
Your spouse can be your best exercise buddy. In a study of 3,075 people, researchers looked at marital status and activity levels. Married couples were more likely to be active than non-married individuals. If one spouse was active, the other spouse was also more likely to be active. In highly active men, their spouse was 3 times more likely to active than women of inactive husbands. Having someone to exercise with can greatly improve your odds of being active for a lifetime.
Reference: Med Sci Sports Exer. 2006;38:541-46. Mar. 2006.
Reduce Colon Cancer
The University of Minnesota reports a new study showing that foods high in magnesium are protective against colon cancer, the second leading cause of death from cancer. Those getting the most magnesium in their diets (351+ mg/day) had 23% fewer colon cancers than those getting lower intakes (<245 mg/day). This decrease includes adjusting for other known colon cancer risks including other nutrition factors, exercise, etc. The protective effect came from magnesium in foods, not supplements. The recommended daily intake of magnesium is 400 mg/day. To get more magnesium in your diet, eat primarily unrefined foods including these good sources: all nuts (pumpkin seeds, almonds, etc.), legumes (lentils, soy, tofu, beans), leafy greens, artichoke, wheat germ, and avocados. See PowerPoint® slide for additional good magnesium food sources.
Reference:
Am J Epidemiol. 2006;163:232-235. Feb. 1, 2006.
Diabetes Prevalence
Diabetes affects an estimated 20.8 million individuals in the United States, about 7% of all adults age 20 and above, and the prevalence is still rapidly increasing. The lifetime risk of developing diabetes for those born in the year 2000 is 35% or 1 out of every 3 individuals.
Reference: JAMA. 2006;295:1707-8. Apr. 12, 2006.
Cancer Prevalence
1 in 4 deaths in the U.S. is due to cancer. 1 in 3 women (38%) will develop cancer during their lifetime, and 1 in 2 men (46%) will get cancer.
Reference: CA A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. 2006;56:106-130. Mar./Apr. 2006.
Health Links
One-stop access to U.S. Government avian and pandemic flu information, managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
This CDC campaign explains the importantance of good health and gives tips for how to be more active.
This CDC campaign educates and encourages girls aged 9-12 years to establish lifelong, healthy habits that build and maintain strong bones.
Healthy Recipes
Spinach, Orange, and Pear Salad with Pine Nuts
Salad
2 large bunches or 2, 10-ounce bags baby spinach, washed
2 pears, peeled, cored, and sliced
6 navel oranges, peeled and sectioned
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
Tear spinach into large serving bowl. Add pears, oranges, and onions. Toss.
Dressing
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar or lemon juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon mustard or finely grated radish
½ shallot, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon white pepper or something for “zing”
1/3 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted (2 tablespoons for dressing, the rest for garnish)
Combine all dressing ingredients in food processor or blender until smooth. Pour over salad just before serving. Toss. Sprinkle remaining pine nuts on top.
Adapted from Environmental Nutrition. Apr. 2006.
Falafel Pita Pockets with Creamy Cucumber Sauce
Sauce
1 cucumber
1 small tomato
1½ cup plain, unsweetened yogurt or soy sour cream
2 teaspoons lemon juice, fresh-squeezed
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
Dash cayenne pepper
Wash cucumber, peel, and dice. Wash tomato and dice. Add cucumber, tomato, and remaining ingredients to yogurt or cream and mix well.
Falafel
2 cups chickpeas, cooked (garbanzo or ceci beans)
1 clove fresh garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup onion, diced and sautéed
¼ cup fresh parsley (if dried parsley, use less)
1/3 cup water or garbanzo juice
2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 cup bulgur wheat, cooked
¼ cup whole-wheat flour
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Rinse and drain the garbanzos, reserving up to 1/3 cup juice. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until thoroughly combined and smooth—or use a masher tool. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Form mixture into 12 patties 1½ to 3 inches in diameter. Place on baking sheet. Spray each patty with the non-stick cooking spray. Bake 20-25 minute or until golden brown. Flip over halfway through.
Assemble just before serving. Insert falafel patties into pocket bread, add a Romaine lettuce leaf or other leaf lettuce and spoon the creamy cucumber sauce between the patties and the lettuce.
Adapted from the Micheff Sisters. Vibrant Life. May/Jun. 2006.
Resources
PowerPoint® Slides
Handouts
What's New at Wellsource?
Attractive New Features Enhance the Wellsource® Health Activity Tracker™
 During the past year the Wellsource® Health Activity Tracker™ (HAT) has seen many improvements, from its look and feel to various incentive/reward features. HAT is an online program for tracking personal lifestyle change and health goals, as well as measuring the effectiveness of your organization’s wellness program. The latest enhancements provide a more detailed system for allocating reward points, various administrative editing features, and an email notification feature for individual messaging.
Reward program: The reward program allows participants to view and track their progress toward earning rewards based on points allocated for completed activities. The administrator can choose from two types of reward programs: a preset program or a My Choice Rewards program. The preset program is an automatic feature for granting rewards for completion of an activity within a specific timeframe and a My Choice Rewards program allows the participant to choose how points are redeemed.
Administrative additions: A new detail report provides information regarding which participants have completed specific activities and a time they were completed provides the administrator with accurate and timely information. Additionally, a section detail report provides even further detail by showing the activities in a specific section a participant has completed.
If you need to provide administrative access to others, such as additional administrators or counselors, the HAT can accommodate your needs by providing restricted level entry within the records. Access by others such as a counselor allows authorization to review only specific reports and follow-up with participants through targeted individual messages.
Preview the WellsourceŽ Health Activity TrackerT
If you would like a web demo of the administrative features, call a Director of Business Development at 1-800-533-9355, or email well@wellsource.com.
|
