Why LifeNuts is a Win-Win program

No one likes change. Yes, Mayor, this program does sound like a lot of work and it is. And it probably touches the job description of city manager, city recreation director, and city health director. But what are your rewards? The feeling of turning around America’s health. Leaving a lasting legacy in your community. The sense of accomplishment when a formerly obese person walks into your office and thanks you for helping him or her to become fit. Seeing fewer overweight children in your schools. Consider these additional benefits:

Lower health care costs for city employees which may lower city health care premiums

City employees with higher morale, more energy, and improved fitness levels

Enhanced image for attracting potential employers – Anytown, USA, is a LifeNuts community

Improved tax base – increased employment, increased production, increased property values

Improved health and longevity of residents – the longer they live, the more taxes they pay. I knew you thought of that.

Reduced employee absenteeism for participating employers

Healthier meal options at participating restaurants 

If only a small number of volunteers come forward, your community can begin simply by, say, collecting data on BMI, weight, and waistline only. Try to include the LifeNuts seminar, but, if it can’t be arranged, ask participants to read the book and implement its recommendations. A start is a start. Better to begin humbly than not at all.

The second objection from city hall could be: We offer many of these programs already. Well and good. Cities and suburbs sponsor a plethora of health-oriented activities: art classes, yoga and Pilates instruction, group sports, gardening, and many others. But the bottom line is that, while these programs help those who enroll, our nation is becoming fatter, less healthy, and our longevity worsens due to the typical American lifestyle. We lost .3 years in life expectancy in 2011 and we’re predicted to lose more as long as our obesity epidemic continues. Experts worry that today’s younger generations of Americans could have a lower life expectancy than their parents, which would mark the first time this has happened in the past century. The only way to change a lifestyle is to incorporate positive health habits, publicize it, and make it cool … and measure progress annually. When community results are measured and publicized, year after year, lifestyles change and many other residents want to be involved in this new way of living. LifeNuts is contagious!

If City Hall Still Objects …

Somebody once said you can’t fight City Hall. But our founding fathers did. You remember Patrick Henry, Paul Revere, and their friends. You learned about The Boston Tea Party, the 1773 protest against British taxation. Hey, there’s a new Tea Party in America now and it shook up more than a few 2010 elections. Americans are tired of the status quo. We’re tired of being fat, coping with health problems, and dying early. Americans distrust big government. We like a grassroots approach.

So, if the mayor, county commissioners, or other elected officials won’t support your effort to start LifeNuts, why not explain that you’ll seek backing elsewhere – like from the opposing politician running in the next election? LifeNuts can strengthen any platform since it aims to improve residents’ health and longevity, fight childhood obesity, raise property values, deliver much-needed cost savings for city budgets, help participating employers, and enhance the community’s public image.

---