A Call for Wellness

by: admin

By Katie Jones, Life Skills Program Director, Bay Path College

It is nearly impossible to go through a day without being inundated with information about health and wellness. Try getting through a magazine, newspaper or TV show without an advertisement dedicated to health and wellness, which is one of the largest industries in America, and continues to flourish despite economic hardships in many other fields. However, wellness is not another fad such as the Slinky and Etch a Sketch®; it is at the core of our very existence. It is shocking that despite being the richest country in the world, we continue to battle sickness at such high rates, and are beleaguered with stress, poor nutrition and a sedentary lifestyle.

The United States ranks 27^th in the world in life expectancy behind nations such as Japan, Iceland, Andorra, Israel, and Malta. However, in comparison with Cuba which ranks 28^th in the world, we spend 25 times more per capita on health care[1]. We live in a nation where companies such as Starbucks and GM spend more on health care than they do on coffee and steel, respectively[2], [3]. Our businesses spend hundreds of billions of dollars a year to address burnout, turnover, higher absenteeism, lower production and increased health care costs because of job stress. More than 7 out of 10 people over 20 years of age are overweight, obese or extremely obese[4]. Nearly 40% of Americans do not engage in any leisure physical activity, and nearly 70% do not exercise regularly [5].

The time has long passed for us to do more than drop our jaws at these statistics and facts. It’s time for action. We need to make a lifestyle change and begin our pursuit towards Wellness.

Bay Path College has taken on this charge by creating a new Wellness Department which works collaboratively to promote all elements of wellness through facilitating programming, providing educational opportunities, and advocating for and supporting the campus community to reach their full potential in all aspects of life. We have adopted a holistic approach which views wellness not merely as an absence of disease but a continuous pursuit towards physical, mental and social well-being. We are excited to offer personal training appointments, cardio and fitness classes, nutrition advice, stress management workshops, counseling appointments and health services to the Bay Path College community, in addition to other programming.

It has been through my role in helping to establish the Wellness Department as the Life Skills Program Director that I first started reading about Dr. Holly Atkinson, a former Breakout Session Speaker from the Women’s Leadership Conference. When I stumbled upon her blog HealthiNation with the simple but profound motto “Live Healthy, Be Happy” I found myself absorbed for hours in the articles and videos that provided wellness information in a clear and informative manner. In June the blog launched new programs dedicated to providing better nutrition education. Her message at the 16^th Annual Women’s Leadership Conference in the Breakout Session “Women, Stress and Fatigue” spoke to many women’s challenge with living a healthy stress-free life, or at least a less stressful life as she jokes that the “f” in female doesn’t stand for “fatigue”. Be sure to check out HealthiNation and join the Women’s Leadership Conference on Facebook where our wellness conversation will continue.

[2] http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/07/news/companies/starbucks_schultz_healthcare.fortune/index.htm

[3] http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2005-06-22-gm-healthcare-usat_x.htm

[4] http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/obesity_adult_07_08/obesity_adult_07_08.htm

[5] http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_245.pdf