DavidHunnicutt.com

How Much Do You Make?

David Hunnicutt — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 22:21:57 +0000

How Your Income Influences Your Health Status

There’s no question that income is related to both health status and access to health care services in the U.S. As a matter of fact, households with higher incomes have higher levels of discretionary income and, thus, have better health status and access to care.

Rationale Conversation Be Damned!
However, when it comes to having any type of rationale conversation concerning who makes how much in this country–and how all of this impacts health status and health care–the group IQ usually plummetts to below room temperature.

Try it for yourself.

Next time you have the chance, ask your closest friends what’s “middle class” and watch the fireworks fly.

It happens every single time.

The Facts
But, thanks to Kiplinger.com, the genie’s out of the bottle.

Here’s the story:

If you, as an individual, earned more than $410,000 you are in the top 1% of all income earners in the U.S.
If you earned $160,041, you are in top 5%.
If you earned more $113,018, you are in the top 10%.
If you earned more than $66,532, you are in the top 25% of wager earners in the U.S.
If you earned more than 32,878, you are in the top 50% of all earners.
And if you earned less than that, you are in the bottom 50% of all earners.

Taken another way, this stark reality means that 50% of all wage earners in the U.S. earn less than $33,000 a year.

And this, my friends, does not bode well for us as a country when it comes to health status and health care.

What This Means For America
In fact, according to the Institute for the Future, “Research has shown that when income disparity among the population widens, the overall health status of the population worsens.”

So brace yourself America–when it comes to health status and health care in this country–things are going to get (much) worse before they gets better.

Swallow Hard America…

David Hunnicutt — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 21:49:58 +0000

Things That Make You Say Hmmmm…

“An estimated 81 million Americans now take at least one prescription medication every day.”

~Why Our Health Matters, Andrew Weil

Please Sir, May I Have Another…

David Hunnicutt — Thu, 07 May 2009 04:29:06 +0000

Former FDA Chief Blows The Whistle On The Food Industry…

Fat. Sugar. Salt.

In his new book, “The End Of Overeating” David Kessler reveals that these are the three points of the food industry’s compass. And if American’s can be lured into eating more of these three ingredients, collective eating patterns can be cognitively and behaviorally altered and then it’s game over.

Sounds a little too doom and gloom?

I’d bet my house that he’s right.

In this book, perhaps the most comprehensive analysis of overeating and the food industry’s quest to stimulate hyper-consumption, Kessler makes an extremely compelling case as to why the food industry is a major part of the problem as it relates to the obesity epidemic in America.

From his damning revelations about how the food industry engineers our food to promote overeating, this book will take you to several different destinations.

Your first stop will be “stunned.” But that’s only a brief excursion.

Next, you’ll be transported to the corner of pissed and agitated. Again, only a limited engagement.

When you pass through ”duped and bitter,” you’ll know you are getting close.

And when you arrive at “motivated to never be taken in by these greedy bastards again,” you’ll know you’ve arrived at your final destination.

We owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Kessler–my prediction is that things will change because of his work.

By all means, READ THIS BOOK.

PS. The only people who are happy about this book are the tobacco executives–I’ll bet they’re wheezing a big, big sigh of relief right now.

My Pet Fat Is A Powerful Reminder

David Hunnicutt — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 19:28:25 +0000

Seeing Is Definitely Believing…

Working with people to help them lose weight is tough business.

The fact of the matter is, a lot of people say they want to lose weight but when it comes right down to it, there are very few who are willing to run the gauntlet to get the job done. Journaling, portioning, walking, shopping, preparing, and weighing is tough business–it’s easy to see how people can become disillusioned with the entire process.

That’s where My Pet Fat comes in.

My Pet Fat is basically a synthetic chunk of goop that effectively simulates what one, five and ten pounds of fat looks like. And it’s a powerful eye opener.

In fact, we keep several in our office and it is a very, very useful reminder for our employees and clients.

To learn more, be sure to visit my www.mypetfat.com.

Wellness Is Something We Do For People…Not Something We Do To Them

David Hunnicutt — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 18:15:58 +0000

The New Mantra…

These days there is a lot of buzz about health and productivity management–and for good reason.

With new research emerging almost everyday, it is becoming evident to employers, health professionals, and federal and local policy-makers alike that poor health can have an enormous impact on medical care costs as well as organizational productivity.

In a recent national policy briefing document entitled The Business Imperative for Health Promotion, Dr. Michael O’Donnell, Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Health Promotion, stated, “Two decades of study have established an increasingly strong link between lifestyle factors and medical costs. Our best estimates are that lifestyle factors are responsible for 25 percent to 36 percent of medical costs. With typical annual medical costs exceeding $8,500 per employee for large employers, and total U.S. health spending at $2.4 trillion annually, lifestyle factors may be responsible for as much as $3,060 in annual medical costs per employee and $864 billion for the nation as whole. Emerging work is showing a strong link between lifestyle factors and productivity as well.

Because of the strong link between lifestyle, medical costs and organizational productivity, employers are embracing population health management concepts with zeal. And, in my mind at least, this alone is reason enough to be optimistic about the future—even in the midst of economically challenging times.

When American Business gets engaged, things change.

As President of The Wellness Council of America, a national not-for profit business and health organization with a rich history in workplace wellness, I have witnessed a renaissance of sorts in the last several years. Employers of all shapes and sizes are embracing health management concepts in a way that hasn’t been seen since the safety and industrial hygiene movement took hold early in the last century.

As we move forward with our quest to link health and well-being to bottom-line organizational outcomes, it is imperative that we remember that corporate health management initiatives are something we do with and for our people—not something we do to them.

This bears repeating.

If we are to be ultimately successful in our quest to improve employee health and manage organizational costs, we must position these health management initiatives as something we do with and for people—not something we do to them.

In an age when CEO’s salaries are 400 times that of the average worker (as compared to 40 times in 1970), we must remember that by many economist’s accounts, the typical worker is making less now than they were in 1970. As a result, many employees are highly skeptical of employer-led health interventions.

As we leverage more than two decades worth of research and strive toward “zero trends,” it is my belief, that to be successful, we must strive to engage the U.S. workforce in a partnership whereby employers and employees alike race to find common ground in promoting good health at the worksite.

As a result, health will become a shared priority and our field’s efforts will be indelibly integrated into the very fabric of the organization’s culture.

The Curse Of Knowledge

David Hunnicutt — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:53:04 +0000

Introducing Non-Exercise Induced Thermogenesis…

In their insightful book Made To Stick, Chip and Dan Heath draw attention to an all-too-familiar phenomenon these days–the curse of knowledge.

In essence, the curse of knowledge occurs when advanced degrees and book smarts get in the way of real-world solutions.

And in the field of employee health management, this spells trouble with a capital T.

Instead of making things simpler as the field’s knowledge-base continues to expand, the concepts are getting more and more abstract and, as a direct result, harder and harder to understand.

In fact, so real is the curse of knowledge that every time I read a new months worth of scholarly articles in the leading health promotion journals my guts start to churn when I think about the business exec’s and human resource professionals who desperately need this information but will never even come close to understanding what is being said by the country’s best health and wellness researchers.

For example, I was just reading an article today discussing the potential impact of non-exercise induced thermogenesis (huh?) on the rates of obesity in the US workforce.

And what exactly is non-exercise induced thermogenesis you ask–and how might it impact the incidence of obesity in working Americans?

Well, I hope your sitting down…

Non-exercise induced thermogenesis is FIDGETING. I’m not kidding.

It seems that researchers have discovered that employees who fidget at their desks (as opposed to sitting in one position all day) burn more calories than those who don’t–and by fidgeting more, more calories can be burned and the harmful consequences of obesity can be lessened.

And this, my friends, is what I’m talking about.

Fundamentally, this is a very important concept–business and health leaders need (and can) find ways to help their people move more during the day, even if it is promoting something as simple as fidgeting.

But if we don’t start making the field’s knowledge-base more accessible to others–especially with the rates of obesity and physical inactivity at all-time highs (not to mention that 80 million baby boomers are just waiting to move from low- and moderate-risk to high-risk), it is indeed over.

You heard it here first.

Have You Ever Wondered What Constitutes High-Risk Status?

David Hunnicutt — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:41:59 +0000

The Master Speaks…

These days there’s a lot of talk about intervening with high-risk employees to help them avoid unnecessary illness and disability (not to mention catastrophic health care claims).

But have you ever wondered what specific criteria constitutes high-risk status?

According to the University of Michigan’s Dee Edington, perhaps the brightest mind in all of Health and Productivity Management, high-risk status is calculated by documenting the follow behaviors:

Consumption of more than 14 drinks/week
Blood pressure of Systolic >139 mmHg or Diastolic >89 mmHg
A personal BMI≥ 27.5
Cholesterol greater than 239 mg/dl
An existing medical problem of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke
HDL less than 35 mg/dl
>5 days of illness in the last year
Partly or not at all satisfied with personal life
Fair or poor perception of personal health status
Physically active less than one time/week
Using safety belt less than 100% of time
Current smoker
Self-reported high stress

Once the previous information has been collected, risk status is assigned as follows:

Low Risk=0 to 2 high risks
Medium Risk=3 to 4 high risks
High Risk=5 or more high risks

The Master has spoken.

When It Comes To Food, It’s All About Marion Nestle

David Hunnicutt — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 15:36:38 +0000

People Worth Knowing…

Yesterday, I listened to Dr. Marion Nestle deliver an address entitled, “What To Eat: Food And Personal Responsibility” at Standford University’s Ethics And Society Lecture Symposium.

Let’s cut to the chase: she’s brilliant.

Having read her book Food Politics, I’ve come to understand that Nestle is one of those rare academics (a Professor at NYU) who has the ability to synthesize an enormous amount of information and to do it in a way that’s compelling and, frankly, fun.

In her address, Nestle discusses how environment influences what and how much we eat–and then, without fear or hesitation, raises the question of ethical implications as it relates to the behaviors and practices of food companies, grocers, and the federal government.

For anyone interested in learning more about food and politics, food and ethics, and food and safety, there’s no one better than Marion Nestle.

Oh, and by the way, her address is available on iTunes–trust me, it’s the best 1 hour and 19 minutes you’ll spend today.

How To Make Your Evaluation Findings Stick

David Hunnicutt — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 01:02:30 +0000

Consistently Evaluating Outcomes…

These days everybody talks about the “stickiness” factor. Without going too deep, “stickiness” is the notion of getting your information noticed. In this article, I’ll put forth some useful tips to help you get the most out of your evaluation results.

How To Make Your Evaluation Findings Stick

The Seven Essential Elements Of A Great Workplace Wellness Operating Plan

David Hunnicutt — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 00:58:47 +0000

Carefully Crafting Your Wellness Plan…

In building a results-oriented worksite wellness program, it is essential to have an operating plan. In this article, I’ll share with you the seven essential components of an exceptional operating plan.

The Seven Essential Elements Of A Great Workplace Wellness Operating Plan