On second thought

Healthy living — do it for the team or at least for the childrenThis is a big week for the 12 members of the Star Herald’s Big Loser campaign. After 16 weeks, participants lost an average of 31 pounds each and report feeling better than ever.The rest of us, tracking their progress in the weekly Star Herald reports, watched in amazement as the pounds fell off. On the street we congratulated them on their efforts and asked them what was working for them.Most of them simply reported that they’d quit unhealthy habits (such as junk food and inactivity) and picked some healthy ones (such as nutritious food and exercise).It’s been a fun campaign that’s had good support, but let’s face it — did we really learn anything new to apply to our own lives?For the past decade, we’ve been bombarded with the keys to healthy living and a smaller dress size:oa balanced, low-fat diet rich in fruits and vegetables contributes to a healthier, smaller body.oexercise not only burns calories, but in the long term it speeds metabolism in general and markedly improves vitals such as blood pressure and cholesterol.This is not new information, and anyone who learned that from the Star Herald Big Loser campaign hasn’t been paying attention for the past 10 years.There are a few things worth noting, though, from the program:
Teamwork builds accountability,
Reporting weekly results in the newspaper builds even more accountability. All the participants said this was good incentive each week.Why is the Star Herald doing this and why should our readers care? Actually our general manager, Rick Peterson, started it because he wanted to lose weight himself. But the broader reason for anyone to care is that obesity is truly becoming a national health crisis. Two out of three U.S. adults are overweight, and one in three is obese, costing millions of dollars to treat resulting health problems, such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke.If that still isn’t incentive to try to live healthier, think about the children.As with anything else, children take their cues from adults, and obese adults are — not surprisingly — raising obese children.If they see us frequently eating fast food and munching on high-fat snacks on the couch every night, what do we expect them to do with their lives?Kids aren’t likely to follow the Star Herald’s Big Loser campaign, but they will observe what’s happening in their homes.We can all do them a favor by putting a little green on our plates at the dinner table and by spending a little less time on the couch as a family.