Dr. Wells, DC discusses with Dr. Fritz Huber, PhD, (Chair of the Health, Leisure, and Sports Sciences Department at Oral Roberts University) the subject of health and wellness. This is a part one of a two part series with Dr. Huber. Dr. Huber mentions in his book, Essential of Physical Activity, that people are increasingly becoming health conscious and are seeking knowledge about sound health practices.
The Current Health Search:
Of the books on the weekly Top Ten best selling list, often two or three are health-related books, usually singing the praises of some new diet.
In 1982, an estimated $50 million was spent in the United States on diet, exercise and health books compared to over $1 billion in 2013.
The National Sporting Goods Association reported in 2014, Americans spent $60 billion on sport equipment ( e.g. stationary bikes, weight training equipment, golf, etc.). Additionally, $20 billion was spent on nutritional supplements and over $17.6 billion on health club memberships. If you combine all expenditures on fitness, sports and leisure areas, Americans spend more than $330 billion per year.
Dr. Huber closes with a statement that is so true not only in my chiropractic office but in a lot of health care providers offices as well. The present consensuses of the allied health professions place the burden of health in the hands of the individual, making it each person's responsibility to adopt a healthy lifestyle.
Dr. Huber and I look at "Sedentary Environmental Death Syndrome (SeDS) coined by Professor Frank Boot. Research evidence reveals the following: SeDS will cause 2.5 million Americans to die prematurely in the next decade. SeDS will cost $2-$3 trillion in healthcare expenses in the United States in the next decade. Chronic disease have increased because of physical inactivity. In the United States, type 2 diabetes (adult onset) has increased nine fold since 1958, obesity has doubled since 1980 and heart disease remains the number one cause of death. United States children are now getting SeDS-related diseases-they are increasingly overweight, showing fatty streaks in their arteries, and developing type 2 diabetes, a disease formerly restricted to adults.
Additionally, Dr. Huber and I look at "health" from two different perspectives, a worldview perspective and the other, a biblical and christian perspective. A biblical definition of "wholeness" (source: www.faithandhealthconnection.org) is defined as the state of being perfectly well in body, soul (mind, will and emotions) and spirit. Dr. Huber discusses "Whole Person Education" at Oral Roberts University.
Dr. Huber and I discuss how our society used the words "health" and "wellness" interchangeably, but they differ in two important ways. Health can be determined or influence by factors beyond our control, such as our genes, age, and family history. Whereas, "wellness" is determined largely by the conscious decisions we make about how we live. These decisions affect the risk factors, a condition that increases your chances o fdisease or injury. We cannot control our age or family history, but we can control lifestyle behaviors. (Connect Core Concepts in Health by Insel, Roth & Insel).