The True Cost of Eating the Big Mac

For those with a penchant for economics, the concept of purchasing power parity and the big mac index is probably like motherhood and apple pie.  For the rest of us, we’ll leave it at that and get on with what I found to be a really interesting article I came across in the Economist (yes, I’m a closet economist).  UBS published an interesting study that looked at how long the average worker had to work in 73 countries to make enough money to buy a Big Mac.  I would say it’s not a surprise to most of us that Chicago (along with Tokyo and Toronto) was at the top of the list with 12 mins.  Compare that to Nairobi where the average worker had to slog it out for over 2 and half hours to savor that special sauce laden patty of bovine perfection.

What happens when you factor the time to burn that Big Mac off?

A typical Big Mac boasts about 480-500 calories.  Using the workout editor on FiVi.com, I wanted to highlight what you would have to add to those 12 minutes to burn off those calories.  Assuming you were a 175 lb male, it would require you:

walk briskly for 110 minutes

jog for 32 minutes

run up stairs for 22 minutes

swim for 60 minutes

irish folk dance for 80 minutes

Of course, everyone knows that you can’t have a Big Mac without super sizing your meal to include a large fries and gallon of coke.  So just take my numbers and multiply them by 3….and then enroll in a celtic dance school.

In the meantime, if you’d like to see the original article click here

The Spread of Health Behaviors in Social Networks

As the founder of a social networking site designed to help foster healthy lifestyles, I could not have asked for a more germane study in support of what we are trying to do.  The Framingham Heart Study is one of the most famous social network studies in the academic world.  Essentially, a stash of papers found in a storeroom were the personal records of 5,124 male and female subjects started in 1948.  The primary focus of this data set was for risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease.  What Nicholas A. Christakis, MD, PhD, MPH; A. James O’Malley, PhD; Alan M. Zaslavsky, PhD did was take this study and expand upon it to look at the affect of your social network and risks associated with obesity.

The following image is from an article in Wired Magazine and show the virulent characteristics of obesity in human populations.  Essentially what the researchers did was map out BMI for the population in Framingham over time and looked at the relationship that defined that population.  The key finding is that it’s very hard to stay lean if you are surrounded by obese people, hence the clumping of obese groups of individuals.  What is the most shocking is that if you have a friend that is obese, your chances of being obese jumps to 171%.

Without getting too much into statistics and correlation, causality, and externalities…I think there is something that is very intuitive with the assumption that our friends do have an influence on how we live and what we do.  I would say with a lot of confidence that positive behaviors can be infectious and they do become more powerful the larger the group.  Unfortunately the same goes for negative behaviors.

It’s important to recognize the influence our friends have on us and to think about who we want to affect that in line with our personal goals.  Group mandated change is one of the most powerful motivators out there…and new online capabilities can be a wonderful enabler.  Get together with your friends and form a friendly competition around who can lose the most weight or log the fastest time.  Share success stories, tips, and press each other on.  I’m not revealing any great mystery but there is something to hearing it again.

Here is the link for the original study…click here

Here is a link for the book that came out of this study….click here

And here is the link to fivi.com where you can form a positive habit forming group …click here

Corporate Wellness – the Stick or the Carrot

Is corporate wellness the next bubble in the health and wellness space?  Rising cost of health care, more employee managed programs, aging workforce, etc – all make corporate wellness a pretty germane topic these days.  The recent WSJ article “Get Well, or Pay Not To” raises some interesting questions.

First, the current recession is not going to stymie the growth in corporate incentives for people to lead a healthier lives:

(excerpt)

More employers are offering cash, discounts and even lower health-insurance premiums to entice workers to participate in a variety of programs. And starting next year, employees could have further incentive to get healthy as more companies add penalties to insurance premiums for workers who don’t partake.

“It’s an opportunity to get cash for doing what’s right for you,” says Shelly Wolff, a senior consultant at consulting firm Watson Wyatt.

Despite cutbacks amid the recession, 58% of large U.S. companies now offer lifestyle-improvement programs, up from 43% in 2007, according to a Watson Wyatt study. And 56% provide health coaches, compared with 44% in 2007. Health-risk appraisals are offered at 80% of companies, up from 72% in 2007.

(end excerpt)

The articles continues to talk about the lengths that companies will go to just to encourage their employees to be healthier.  Whether it’s money, gift cards, or access to wellness professionals – the economics are there for employers to have healthier employees.  One extreme example is the “insurer Aetna which offers employees up to $1,200 back each year via their paychecks or health savings accounts for completing a health-risk assessment, identifying and completing family health goals, making healthy food choices and participating in a variety of fitness activities.”

Now what happens for those who choose not to participate?  There has been talk of a surcharge for employees who don’t take the assessments.  It’s more to get the attention of the employee.  It’s is my opinion that these tactics are counterproductive and completely unsustainable in a tight labor market.  I know that in the current economic climate, a tight labor market seems like an absurd thing to write about.  But we will get there eventually.  Baby boomers will retire eventually and they did not make as many Gen X’ers as them (on the order of 10-12 million less).  It is my personal belief that a good corporate wellness program will be much more in the future than just about saving on health care costs.  It will be a key component of attracting the best talent and most loyal employees.

Some food for thought.  Many of corporate wellness programs today are very passive in nature.  Log so many hours on our site over 6 months and we’ll give you a $300 check.  Most people forget.  Free gym memberships aren’t much better.  Even when people pay for the gym membership, they don’t go.  Health assessments, quick and easy to take but once we know that you are at risk – then what?  Is a $25 dollar surcharge going to get you to quit smoking?  I hope so, but not likely.  It may only aggrevate the situation.  What about all the smaller companies that don’t have the economis of scale that Aetna enjoys who can’t afford to give their employees $1,200 in incentives?

These are interesting questions that many in the industry are trying to solve right now as we speak.  I see this being more about active participation and being more creative about how we would encourage people to lead better healthier lives.  This means specialized firms and wellness professionals that can tailor programs for the individual companies.  Different corporate cultures will require different programs.  For those companies that can’t afford managed wellness programs, I see technology as playing a large role in helping bring down the costs.  Peer motivation and social networks are a great source of opportunity that unfortunately today are usually tapped to sell only advertising.  I’m a big proponent of evidence based wellness services.  There are a lot of great tools out there and the smart wellness professional who wants to enter this space will use what is available but use it creatively.  You can only do so much via email and articles still keep people in front of the computer and in their seats.  Organize groups, get groups together and out.  Encourage information sharing and success sharing.  Even go as far as encourage bragging.  We compete on sales and on the field, why not with the waistline.  This is a very exciting field to be in right now and one that surely will see some phenomenal players in the coming months!

It’s National Men’s Health Week

Did you know that this week is National Men’s Health Week?  The edict from the nation’s highest authority was passed to raise awareness on mens’ health related issues and how simple things can have a significant impact on improving the quality and longevity of men’s lives around the country.  The two bills: Senate Joint Resolution 179 (SJR 179) and the House Joint Resolution (HJR 209) were passed in March and May of 1994.  Upon final signature of SJR 179 by President Clinton on May 31, 1994, National Men’s Health Week was established.

The Goal of Men’s Health Month

The purpose of Men’s Health Month is to heighten the awareness of preventable health problems and encourage early detection and treatment of disease among men and boys.

This month gives health care providers, public policy makers, the media, and individuals an opportunity to encourage men and boys to seek regular medical advice and early treatment for disease and injury.

NATIONAL MEN’S HEALTH WEEK
(Senate – March 25, 1994)

Mr. MITCHELL. Madam President, on behalf of Senator Dole, I ask unanimous consent to proceed to Senate Joint Resolution 179 now at the desk introduced by Senator Dole, and I ask for its immediate consideration. I further ask unanimous consent that the joint resolution be deemed read three times and passed and the motion to reconsider laid on the table and the preamble be agreed to.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

So the joint resolution (S.J. Res. 179) was deemed read three times and passed.

The preamble was agreed to.

The joint resolution (S.J. Res 179), with its preamble, reads as follows:

S. J. Res. 179

• Whereas despite the advances in medical technology and research, men continue to live an average of 7 years less than women;
• Whereas the likelihood that a man will develop prostate cancer is 1 in 11;
• Whereas the number of men contacting prostate cancer will reach over 120,000 in 1993, with an expected one-third of the cases to die from the disease;
• Whereas testicular cancer is one of the most common cancers in men aged 15-34, and when detected early, has an 87 percent survival rate;
• Whereas the number of men contracting lung disease will reach over 100,000 in 1993, with an expected 85 percent of the cases to die from the disease;
• Whereas the number of cases of colon cancer among men will reach over 80,000 in 1993; with nearly one-third of the cases to die from the disease;
• Whereas the death rate for prostate cancer has grown at almost twice the death rate of breast cancer in the last five years;
• Whereas African-American men in the United States have the highest incidence in the world of cancer of the prostate;
• Whereas men are seven times as likely as women to be arrested for drunk driving and three times as likely to be alcoholics;
• Whereas women visit the doctor 150 percent as often as men enabling them to detect health problems in their early stages;
• Whereas significant numbers of male related health problems such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, infertility, and colon cancer, could be detected and treated if men’s awareness of these problems was more pervasive;
• Whereas educating both the public and health care providers about the importance of early detection of male health problems will result in reducing rates of mortality for these diseases;
• Whereas appropriate use of tests such as Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) exams, blood pressure screens, cholesterol screens, etc., in conjunction with clinical examination and self-testing for problems such as testicular cancer can result in the detection of many of these problems in their early stages and increases in the survival rates to nearly 100 percent;
• Whereas many men are reluctant to visit their health center or physician for regular screening examinations of male related problems for a variety of reasons including fear, lack of information, and cost factors; and
• Whereas men who are educated about the value that preventive health can play in prolonging their lifespan and their role as a productive family member will be more likely to participate in health screenings: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That June 12 through 19, 1994, is designated as National Men’s Health Week, and the President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe this week with appropriate programs and activities.

Their website is chock full of tips, events, visual aids, and more – to help promote awareness on key issues.  The calendar has events around the country is support of the week’s charter for promotion of awareness.  If you are interested in sponsoring an event please check out the Men’s Health Zone Planner.

FiVi.com encourages you to use this week as milestone in your health.  Use FiVi Maps to plot out routes where you like to run or walk.  Use our Quick Entry tool to log exercises or activities.  We encourage you to use the power of peer motivation.  Get together with your friends and set a common goals and help each other reach those goals.  A common goal could be as simple as “We’ll run 5 miles a week” or “We’ll burn 1000 extra calories a week” and the group monitors itself via reports sharing.  Next week, we launch FiVi Updates where you’ll be notified everytime one of your friends logs and activity or exercise.  Blog about what you are doing this year to help ensure you live a life to it’s fullest potential and share it with your friends and colleagues.

Happy National Men’s Health Week from us at FiVi.com!