The report called on the government to address and reverse the decline by investing in housing and poverty reduction and education, improved nutrition, physical activity, as well as a stronger commitment to addressing the impact of tobacco, alcohol, and unhealthy food. If the trend continues, the report estimates that only 6.6% of adults will be in excellent health, while almost 20% would be in fair or poor health.
How can this be so? What is the point of spending more on education when you know, and everybody knows, what we need to do to live a healthy life? We have never been more aware of how to live a healthy life. We know how to do it. Whether we choose to do it is entirely another matter. Social media provides recipes for those who are on slim budgets. If you think, well, I don't know how to cook, there's Tik Tok and Instagram that will show you how to cook, or YouTube tutorials.
If you say, "but I've only got this amount of money to spend on food", there are endless accounts that will show you what to do with meagre resources. You might not be able to afford the finest organic meats, most people can't. But there are ways of turning out nutritious food using the most basic ingredients.
There are free exercise programmes for any exercise you care to think of. You can even walk barefoot around the block. You don't need special exercise gear or gym memberships or to belong to a swimming club or a Taekwondo club or a basketball club. There are so many ways that you can move if you want to. Why would we spend more on physical activity when people are choosing not to?
There are accounts that you can follow for free to assist you in coping with the world. If you're suffering from anxiety, there's anti-addiction programmes. There has never been a time where people have been more open in discussing mental health issues, where there's been greater acceptance of people who are struggling with mental health issues, where mental health days are a matter of course.
How can we be declining? How can you not know what is good for you and how you can improve your mental health and your physical health? Whether you want to or not is another matter. I'm not pointing the finger, I'm looking at myself in the mirror. I knew the amount I was drinking wasn't healthy for me, but I did it anyway, until I stopped. Until I thought, no this can't go on. This is silly. You're fat, you're unhealthy, you're falling over, broke a bone, enough. And so you stop. But you do it until you don't.
I cannot believe that the kids that are going into the dairies before school that I used to see on my commute, who were buying the virulently coloured soft drink and the pie for breakfast, I cannot believe that they did not know that was an unhealthy breakfast. They know it's unhealthy, but they choose to do it.
You could throw all the money in the world at education programmes. Until people decide they're worth more, they deserve more in their life. They are the ones, individuals are the ones who have to decide for themselves that they deserve better in life, that they deserve to look after their bodies. And I don't know how you do that. I would love to hear from you on this. Is there anybody in the world that doesn't know how to live a healthy life? It's all a matter of choice.
Kerre McIvor, is a journalist, radio presenter, author and columnist. Currently hosts the Kerre Woodham mornings show on Newstalk ZB - where this article was sourced.
How can this be so? What is the point of spending more on education when you know, and everybody knows, what we need to do to live a healthy life? We have never been more aware of how to live a healthy life. We know how to do it. Whether we choose to do it is entirely another matter. Social media provides recipes for those who are on slim budgets. If you think, well, I don't know how to cook, there's Tik Tok and Instagram that will show you how to cook, or YouTube tutorials.
If you say, "but I've only got this amount of money to spend on food", there are endless accounts that will show you what to do with meagre resources. You might not be able to afford the finest organic meats, most people can't. But there are ways of turning out nutritious food using the most basic ingredients.
There are free exercise programmes for any exercise you care to think of. You can even walk barefoot around the block. You don't need special exercise gear or gym memberships or to belong to a swimming club or a Taekwondo club or a basketball club. There are so many ways that you can move if you want to. Why would we spend more on physical activity when people are choosing not to?
There are accounts that you can follow for free to assist you in coping with the world. If you're suffering from anxiety, there's anti-addiction programmes. There has never been a time where people have been more open in discussing mental health issues, where there's been greater acceptance of people who are struggling with mental health issues, where mental health days are a matter of course.
How can we be declining? How can you not know what is good for you and how you can improve your mental health and your physical health? Whether you want to or not is another matter. I'm not pointing the finger, I'm looking at myself in the mirror. I knew the amount I was drinking wasn't healthy for me, but I did it anyway, until I stopped. Until I thought, no this can't go on. This is silly. You're fat, you're unhealthy, you're falling over, broke a bone, enough. And so you stop. But you do it until you don't.
I cannot believe that the kids that are going into the dairies before school that I used to see on my commute, who were buying the virulently coloured soft drink and the pie for breakfast, I cannot believe that they did not know that was an unhealthy breakfast. They know it's unhealthy, but they choose to do it.
You could throw all the money in the world at education programmes. Until people decide they're worth more, they deserve more in their life. They are the ones, individuals are the ones who have to decide for themselves that they deserve better in life, that they deserve to look after their bodies. And I don't know how you do that. I would love to hear from you on this. Is there anybody in the world that doesn't know how to live a healthy life? It's all a matter of choice.
Kerre McIvor, is a journalist, radio presenter, author and columnist. Currently hosts the Kerre Woodham mornings show on Newstalk ZB - where this article was sourced.
5 comments:
Of course it is up to the individual, and as you say Kerre, until you decide enough is enough, no amount of money or being told how to live your life is going to change anything. We nearly all of us have addictive traits in some form or another.
Very true Kerre, we have all the knowledge of the world at our fingertips.
But we also have all the socialised healthcare at our fingertips too so whadayagonnado?
How much of this poor health is due to toxic injections forced on working age people by the employers following pressure by the government and constant lockdowns? The statistics in the USA from insurance agencies demonstrate a significant rise in working age adults on disability after being jabbed. Those that were spared significant disabilities are likely not as unaffected as many think.
Self-reporting is not a reliable way of evaluating people's health. Social perceptions of what constitutes 'excellent health' are not set in concrete. Perhaps people today are more critical when self-reporting. An aging population is a factor to take into consideration as well. The higher the average age, the lower the number of people likely to report themselves as being 'in excellent health'.
Surely today’s definition of “mental health” is yesteryear’s definition of “stress”?
Everyone has “stress” in one’s life.. it is how you deal with stress that defines your outcome in life.. many of us have great difficulty in dealing with making stressful decisions in the course of one’s life- making do with an income which is stretched to the max; not wanting to shift locations in order to get a better life and income; expecting the government of the day to look after your expectations in life; suffering the consequences of a media education which inherently shapes a philosophy of ..’what can my country do for me?’ ..the complete opposite of JFK’s inaugural mantra ..”what can you do for your country?’
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