“Big Brother” is here to make sure you are healthy
The Blue Zones Project is spearheaded by a Minneapolis-based group to improve a community’s longevity by bringing civic and business leaders together to make policy and practical changes to promote healthier lifestyle choices.
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Weiss said about 80 percent of the population is healthy and wants to stay that way and 5 percent is ill and getting treated. The remaining 15 percent involves people who are sick and don’t know it or what he describes as the “worried well,” people who think they are sick but are not.
The Blue Zones concept is directed at growing the 80 percent and keeping them healthy and getting the “worried well” in programs to keep them healthy, Weiss said.
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The Blue Zones Project is based on nine principles of longevity, based on findings by National Geographics’ explorer Dan Buettner and his team after worldwide explorations uncovered places where people live longer and healthier.
The principles include moving naturally by living in walkable communities; knowing your purpose; downshifting each day to meditate, nap or pray; and having a plant-based diet.
The other principles include the “80-percent rule” of stopping to eat when you feel 80-percent full; limiting alcohol consumption; putting family first; belonging to a faith-based community; and having the “right tribe” of healthy-minded friends.
Making healthier lifestyle choices possible on a communitywide basis requires buy-in from key sectors, which include local governments, schools, churches, grocery stores, restaurants, businesses and civic groups.