Welcome to “FitnessMantra Weekend”, your once-a-week health news update. As always you can also stay updated with the latest in fitness news by subscribing separately to the Fitness Mantra del.icio.us feed.

This week two complementary posts about the benefits of fruits and vegetables are worth mentioning. First off, surprise surprise - Americans are still refusing to eat their veggies reports an MSNBC article that goes on to say that for more than a decade, less than a third of us are eating the daily recommended quantities of fruits and vegetables - the government wants us to have 5 servings, combined, everyday. (Remember, an easy way to determine serving sizes for fruits and vegetables is that one serving fits in the palm of your hand)

Not only are fruits and vegetables lower-calorie, they also have minerals and fiber that help guard against chronic diseases and cancer, the CDC says.

OK. So let’s say you are now convinced and are all set to grab those pesky fruits and vegetables by the horns, err…. stalks. But then, it’s the old I-don’t-have-time problem again: no time to select them fresh from the market, no time to store them carefully (and use these perishables on time before they expire), no time to peel them, no time to cut them - it’s an endless stream of “no time”s.

Now, canned stuff would have been easier if only they were healthful, right?! Well, guess what? Canned Fruits, Veggies Are Healthy, Too, according to a WebMD article. Multiple studies contend that at least in certain cases, the canned variety is actually better for you! Consider:

Fresh tomatoes have less available lycopene than canned tomatoes or tomato sauce. According to one study included in the review, tomato paste has more than six times the lycopene of fresh tomatoes.

Another study from the late 1990s suggested that vegetables such as green beans and spinach lose about 75% of their vitamin C after being stored in the refrigerator for a week. The research suggested that the canned or frozen versions of these vegetables may be more nutritious than their fresh counterparts that have been stored for many days.

In other words, while in most cases, the best way to eat fruits and vegetables would probably be on the same day, fresh of the farmer’s market, most of us end up refrigerating a bulk of our purchased produce anyway and in such cased we are actually better off with the canned variety.

“Fresh produce is nutritionally better when it is used within a few days of picking,” the statement read. “Canned produce is picked and canned at its peak, so even though the heating process destroys some vitamins, the majority of the nutrients remain.”

So get your 5 servings of fruits of vegetables today (and don’t worry too much if these days you are not using a vegetable peeler as much as you are a can opener!)

Now, onto the week’s top health and fitness stories:

1. Canned Fruits, Veggies Healthy, Too: Think fresh fruits and vegetables are always the most nutritious? Think again.
2. Breast cancer another reason to limit beef: A major new study analysis suggests that eating too much red meat raises the risk of breast and colorectal cancer at least for some women.
3. Diabetes soars in the under fives: The number of young children with Type 1 diabetes has risen dramatically in the last 20 years, a study suggests.
4. Obesity May Up Prostate Cancer Deaths: Obesity may more than double the odds of prostate cancer death among men newly diagnosed with the disease.
5. Enjoy Food Dates Without Wrecking Your Diet: Try these tips to make those romantic food dates less fattening.
6. Surgery Risks Higher for Obese: Obese people have a much higher risk of potentially deadly complications following surgery, a new study shows.
7. Gaining Ground on Weight Gain: The belt has to go up a notch; your underwear elastic is forming a geometric pattern on your waist; the dryer seems to be shrinking everything. It’s weight gain!
8. Tricks to Lose Those Last 5 Pounds: You’re eating a healthy diet and getting plenty of exercise, but no matter what you do, you can’t seem to move the needle on the scale.
9. Heart-Healthy Diet and Exercise: Lower High Blood Pressure and Cholesterol Naturally: Perhaps you’re wondering: Why can’t medicine alone do the trick? Does lifestyle really make a difference?
10. Cocoa Boosts “Good” Cholesterol: Drinking cocoa each day may boost levels of HDL (”good”) cholesterol, Japanese researchers report.
11. Americans still refusing to eat their veggies: Less than one-third of adults eat recommended daily servings, survey shows
12. Purple grape juice best among all juices: Many people start their breakfast with a glass of orange juice. But a new study published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry suggests that a glass of grape juice may be better than any other juice.
13. Spain bans skinny sizes on mannequins: The program is aimed at changing the perception that super-skinny women are fashionable — an image some believe contributes to eating disorders.
14. Teens’ diets may lead to weight gain: Teens who go on diets to drop some pounds are more likely to skip breakfast and binge eat, which may at least partly explain why they put on more weight over time than their peers who don’t diet, a new study shows.
15. Exercise gives a boost to brain cells: Exercise boosts brainpower by building new brain cells in a brain region linked with memory and memory loss, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.
16. Even Light Exercise Helps Smokers Quit: Even short bouts of light exercise such as strolling can help smokers quit by reducing cigarette cravings and withdrawal symptoms, say scientists at the University of Exeter in the UK.
17. Weight gain can speed testosterone decline: Gaining too much weight can accelerate the decline in testosterone levels that accompanies aging, a new study shows.
18. Parents ‘don’t recognise obesity’: The government is launching a plan to tackle obesity by helping parents recognise the warning signs that their children are overweight.
19. Obesity reduces odds of going home after stroke: Obese individuals who suffer a stroke are significantly less likely to be discharged home and tend to stay in the hospital longer than lean individuals who suffer a stroke, researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles have observed.
20. Sally Squires - And the Winner Is . . . Well, Nobody: Just because a new study finds that the high-protein Atkins diet doesn’t appear to cause the heart disease once feared is no reason to celebrate by loading up on high-fat fare.
21. Fizzy drinks associated with diabetes - study: There is no denying that sugar-loaded soft drinks are having “a negative impact on health”, Dr Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Centre for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, said
22. Eating Disorders: Not Just for Women: Males, they now believe, appear to be vulnerable to social pressures to achieve the perfect body similar to those that have long plagued women.
23. Memory loss fear over obesity ops: Weight loss surgery could lead to a condition which can result in memory loss, according to US research.
24. Diabetes: a growing problem in newly-rich Asia: A cheese burger one day, lasagna the next and chicken nuggets instead of a bowl of noodles.
25. Fast-food chains to curb trans fat: FAST-food chains in Australia have voluntarily agreed to reduce the amount of harmful trans fats in their products, averting the possibility of government intervention.
26. Chemicals May Play Role in Rise in Obesity: Too many calories and too little exercise are undeniably the major factors contributing to the obesity epidemic, but several recent animal studies suggest that environmental exposure to widely used chemicals may also help make people fat.

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Have a great weekend!

Technorati Tags: health, fitness, health news, fitness news, health links, fitness links, del.icio.us, fruits, vegetables, serving sizes

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When you pick up an issue of BusinessWeek magazine you expect to see news about the latest twists and turns in the stock market, maybe even some good old fashioned corporate corruption. But the cover of the February 26th edition grabbed my attention when I realised it focussed squarely on workplace wellness (just one of my many obsessions).

Scotts Miracle-Gro of Marysville Ohio is, by this account, a great example of a company that has gotten workplace-wellness programs right. Get Healthy-Or Else describes the efforts made by this lawncare company to not only get its employees to eat and live well but also makes them accountable for their actions. During the middle of last year I asked if Wellness should determine health benefits and I was heartened to see many similarities between what I wished for and what is already being done at Scotts.

Getting employees involved

Just like household budgeting which works best when the kids are involved in the whole money-in money-out equation, Scotts’ wellness program began with CEO Jim Hagedorn’s honest and straight-forward approach with his employees.

Hagedorn wanted employees to know what he was up against. Using a PowerPoint presentation, he showed that his annual health-care bill had soared 42% since 1999, to $20 million, which amounted to 20% of the company’s net profits in 2003.

Getting employees policed

Enforcing workplace programs especially related to such personal matters as smoking and eating is always a tricky issue, but Hagedorn, a former F-16 pilot was not one to be discouraged. Hiring a third-party firm to prevent managers from discriminating against subordinates, he managed to institute a smoking ban with the understanding that “If people understand the facts and still choose to smoke, it’s suicidal,” he says. “And we can’t encourage suicidal behavior.”

A little extreme? Sure, but then so is the problem.

Getting employees the resources

Well, talk about fitness is cheap, but Hagedorn puts his money where his health is:

During one of Hagedorn’s straight-talk sessions, workers told him a company gym would make wellness easier to swallow. “Done,” Hagedorn said. But his vision went far beyond installing some StairMasters and throwing up health pointers on the Scotts intranet. Hagedorn built a soup-to-nuts medical and fitness center across the street from headquarters. Operated by Whole Health, the 24,000-square-foot facility cost $5 million and can meet pretty much any health-related need an employee might have, including a drive-thru for free prescription drugs.

When employers don’t stop at just making recommendations, but go that extra step to actually provide a convenient, usable service, everyone benefits.

Get employees accountable

Of course, you can provide the world of benefits to employees, but that benefit is only going to be as good as its usage. This is why:

Scotts employees are now urged to take exhaustive health-risk assessments. Those who balk pay $40 a month more in premiums. Using data-mining software, Whole Health analysts scour the physical, mental, and family health histories of nearly every employee and cross-reference that information with insurance-claims data. Health coaches identify which employees are at moderate to high risk. All of them are assigned a health coach who draws up an action plan. Those who don’t comply pay $67 a month on top of the $40. “We tried carrots,” says Benefits Chief Pam Kuryla. “Carrots didn’t work.”

As I have said many times before, insurance companies work like that - the safest, most responsible people pay the least. It’s time health insurance followed suit. Complacence that one’s individual habits don’t matter because someone else is paying for health insurance is the root of irresponsible eating behaviour. It’s time people (especially at the workplace) realise that their habits don’t affect just themselves but others too. “Why should you care whether other people are healthy or not?” - well you can stop wondering now.

Getting employees motivated (and rewarded!)
Often Hagedorn will walk around motivating people and making sure people are on the right track. And with rewards aplenty for good behaviour general wellness at Scotts is only going one way - up:

The nudging begets peer pressure. Gym rats earn special pins they display on ID badge lanyards; these have become a coveted status object. Competition for trips to Hawaii, free massages and facials, and other cash and prizes is fierce. One group of employees started having lunch together every day to keep each other from peeling out of the parking lot for a smoke. Doughnuts have disappeared. “The message is: If you’re not trying to do something to make yourself better, then you’re going to pay more,”.

Getting employees results

The best part of any program is seeing the results right before your eyes and employees of Scotts are luck to be able to do so:

So far, the company says, more than 70% of headquarters staff belongs to the fitness center. The smoking-cessation program has already had a 30% success rate. The wellness program, which costs $4 million a year to run, is a financial drain. But the company expects it to pay for itself in three to four years.

The Challenges From Tough Decisions

The guy on the cover? He is Scott Rodrigues who was fired on his 30th birthday because he didn’t stop smoking … and promptly filed a discriminatory lawsuit against the company. While Scotts Miracle-Gro agrees it’s a difficult decision it believes it can get the case dismissed.

Path-breaking policies are never easy to implement - but kudos to Jim Hagedorn for making the effort, sticking to his values and making a real difference to his employees. Do read the complete article which also links to a tips page on How to Launch a Wellness Program.

How does your company rate at motivating its employees to lead a healthier life? Do you have any tips for making it easier to implement similar policies at work? Do let other readers know by commenting!

Technorati Tags: health, fitness, exercise, workplace wellness

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