The Challenge of Healthy Living

The high rate of obesity in the US and worldwide is a marker for unhealthy lifestyles. These lifestyles are leading to chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer and are driving up health care costs. They also are reducing quality of life for many people. While almost everyone would like to be healthier, and despite the high awareness of the problem, few people have achieved a lifestyle that optimizes health. Our challenge is to help people achieve healthy living in an environment and a culture that unintentionally supports unhealthy lifestyles. A big missing piece of the puzzle is the “why.” Why do people want to change their behaviors, their environment or their culture? I will discuss how we can start in providing motivation for change and in creating demand for a healthy environment.