In the July 1 New York Times, there was an interesting article about the effort of the Congressional Black Caucus to get the addition of menthol to cigarettes banned because menthol cigarettes are the choice of 75% of African-American smokers. There is a clear recognition that menthol and other sweeteners added to cigarettes make them more attractive to vulnerable populations, like young people, minorities with health risks that make smoking health-threatening and young women.

When I read this article, it occurred to me that the misuse of menthol and other sweeteners to attract people to cigarettes can be turned on its head to make healthy foods more attractive to eat. When our younger son, who is now 17 years old, was under 10 years old, we had a great deal of difficulty getting him to eat anything other than junk food. We had particular difficulty getting him to eat green vegetables. (more…)

I believe strongly that health is enhanced by healthy behaviors, such as good nutrition, exercise, and healthy lifestyles. To some degree, we can mandate healthy behaviors by law and regulation, or by centralized controls.

However, just as I noted in a blog several months ago in which I described some of the findings in the book Mindless Eating, authored by Brian Wansink, the best behavior change drivers are those of which the individual is not conscious. Steve Victor’s Fit For Life blog provides a brief summary of the book’s key takeaways.

For example, in our World Headquarters at Pitney Bowes, we have created a healthy environment by the food we serve and the way we price it. We have an on-site clinic and on-site fitness center, and we have many outreach programs for preventive screenings and immunizations. (more…)

In my last posting, I referred to parts of America that have been described as “food deserts,” meaning that residents living in those areas do not have access to supermarkets or other food stores or restaurants from which they can purchase affordable healthy food. One of my Pitney Bowes colleagues referred me to a satirical YouTube posting called The Bronx Bodega, which powerfully illustrates what I have noted in a few postings: in many poorer communities with less healthy people, not only is healthy food unavailable at affordable prices, if it is available at all, but the unhealthy food is exceptionally inexpensive and attractively packaged.

But I have learned that the absence of healthy food is just one form of deprivation for low-income communities. They lack four other prerequisites for healthy living:

• Safe outdoor play areas, like parks, to get exercise;
• Primary care clinics for treatment of minor illnesses and injuries, preventive screenings, and immunizations, as well as referral to medical specialists;
• Pharmacies; and
• Information sources. (more…)

Recently, I gave a speech at the American Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) business conference in Chicago on the prerequisites for a workable solution to our health care cost crisis.

One of the main points I made is that convenient and affordable access to healthy foods, prescription and over-the-counter medications, and primary care physicians and nurses for preventive screenings, immunizations, and treatment of minor illnesses and injuries was a more important issue to attack than simply expanding coverage. The more I learn, the more convinced I am that I am right.

This morning, I was listening to an interview on WFAN-New York radio, and the interviewee, a founder of an organization trying to address the issue of hunger in America, referred to “food deserts,” a term I had not heard before. He defined the term as a geographic area in which many people live, but they do not have convenient access to a supermarket or any other food store that carries healthy foods. He said that the entire city of Detroit and major chunks of New York City have no supermarkets. As a result, residents of these communities eat fast food or they go to bodegas or convenience stores that stock inexpensive junk food and nothing else. (more…)

The more I have studied the issue of obesity, the more convinced I am that one of the highest leverage points in attacking the problem is getting agricultural food subsidies changed.

We tend to blame individuals for their eating habits, particularly obese poor people. What we fail to take into account is the extent to which their eating habits are dictated by the relative costs of different foods, particularly the costs of unhealthy vs. healthy foods. We fail to understand that both the availability and cost of foods is heavily influenced by long-standing agricultural subsidies baked into federal laws and U.S. Department of Agricultural regulations.

I first learned about this in reading an article in my local newspaper, the Darien Times, about a lecture in Westport, Connecticut, at which Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, among others, commented on the influence of agricultural subsidies on producing more sugar and grain-based foods. She and others commented that fruits and vegetables are considered “specialty foods” which are not given subsidies and therefore more expensive. (more…)