As a health
care professional, should I be held to a higher standard for personal
health? As I type this blog entry, a
half empty bag of red, white and blue peanut M&M’s sits on my desk and the
yellow one on the cover of the bag is smiling at me. The good thing is that I’ve been sharing
them. The bad thing is that I’ve been
eating the majority and have since passed the recommended serving size at least
a couple times. So the question I want
an answer to is, should I- or better yet, could I pull myself to eat
better? After all, one of my unknown
nicknames in college was “Snackers,” largely due to my ability to put away a
family size bag of Doritos and soda or other obscene serving of junk food at a single
30 minute or less sitting and act like nothing happened. Granted, that was half a lifetime ago where I
was nearly 40lbs lighter, exercised almost daily and had the metabolism to
match. Today, with 3 kids, occasional
long work hours and only working out at home when I get 5 minutes instead of at
a gym, things are a little different, but it’s not like I’m overweight. Or at least that’s my opinion. My BMI would say otherwise. But as
anyone who is on top of their game in their industry, don’t they all do whatever
they can from every angle to stay on top?
If that’s the case, should all people who work in the health care
industry strive to achieve excellence in personal health?
On one side
of the coin, people say obesity is a disease (and the United States is the
second most obese industrial country in the world). On the other side of the coin, some think and
say that obesity is not a disease and that it’s largely the result of lack of
exercise and overeating. The Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, actually classifies
obesity as a behavioral risk factor. So
essentially, as a health care professional, on both sides of the coin, am I
being detrimental to my industry (not to even mention myself) by not being as
optimally healthy of a person as possible?
On June 11,
2015, the “Healthy Self” campaign was launched by the Obama
administration. Among many things, this
campaign is a joint effort between the White House, and the Department of
Health and Human Services to promote healthy living. As of today, I’m going to participate in this
campaign. It may not be right of me to
ask or say that everyone in healthcare should be on a path to personal
excellence in health, but as I strive to be on the top of my profession, I
think it’s a step in the right direction.
Part of this pledge is to post any activity that shows commitment to
being healthy and using “#HealthySelfie” on social media. You can follow my #HealthySelfie posts on
twitter by finding me @therealablakeh.
To learn more
about the Healthy Self campaign, visit this link: http://www.hhs.gov/blog/2015/06/11/invest-your-healthy-self.html