Reflections, Reflections

Fat to fit: how Finland did it - Guardian article talking about the secrets of their success:

Thirty years ago, Finland was one of the world's unhealthiest nations. Diet was poor, people were inactive and heart disease was at record levels. Now it's one of the fittest countries on earth.

[...]

The number of men dying from cardiovascular heart disease has dropped by at least 65%, with deaths from lung cancer being slashed by a similar margin. Physical activity has risen and now, Finnish men can expect to live seven years longer and women six years longer than before measures were brought in.

A most fascinating article for anyone interested in mass educational strategies to alter unhealthy attitudes and behaviors.

Notice all the strategies using the teams going into the locales and talking directly with the people. Face to face, buddy to buddy. Also all the positive incentive strategies:

"The biggest innovation was massive community-based intervention. We tried to change entire communities," says Puska. Instead of a mass campaign telling people what not to do, officials blitzed the population with positive incentives. Villages held "quit and win "competitions for smokers, where those who didn't spark up for a month won prizes. Entire towns were set against each other in cholesterol-cutting showdowns. "We would go in, measure everyone's cholesterol, then go back two months later, "says Puska. The towns that cut cholesterol the most would win a collective prize. "We didn't tell people how to cut cholesterol, they knew that. It wasn't education they needed, it was motivation. They needed to do it for themselves. "

Local competitions were combined with sweeping nationwide changes in legislation. All forms of tobacco advertising were banned outright. Farmers were all but forced to produce low-fat milk or grow a new variety of oilseed rape bred just for the region that would make domestic vegetable oil widely available for the first time. Previously, farmers had been paid for meat and dairy on the basis of the product's fat content.

It just seems that the unhealthy food industry is so gigantic (read even more enormously powerful) compared to the tobacco industry that banning certain types of ads or starting with warning labels seem like a dream. Farming incentives, however, are very doable in many circumstances.

UPDATE jan-19-05:

Recent surveys throw up some worrying statistics about children in the EU.

According the latest figures from the International Obesity Taskforce, 36% of nine-year-olds in Italy are overweight or obese. In Spain, 27% of children and adolescents are affected.

"The epidemic appears to be accelerating out of control," Philip James, chairman of the International Obesity Task Force, said last year.

"Things are worse than our gloomiest predictions."

Actually, one first step has been taken regarding ads in the US:

Kraft, the largest US food maker will also add a label to its more nutritional and low-fat brands to promote the benefits.

Kraft rival PepsiCo began a similar labelling initiative last year.


Kraft's new advertising policy, which covers advertising on TV, radio and in print publications, is aimed at children between the ages of six and 11.

It means commercials for some of its most famous snacks and cereals shown during early morning cartoon shows on TV will now be replaced by food and drink qualifying for Kraft's new "Sensible Solution" label.

[end of update]


"Entire towns were set against each other in cholesterol-cutting showdowns." This is a great idea if you can get a good number of people to be motivated into it. I can imagine certain communities in other places where they would probably try to see whose cholesterol would collectively increase the most. As in:

The closest thing to a British equivalent was tried out two years ago. Dubbed "Fat men in pubs " by Len Almond, the founding director of the National Centre for Physical Activity and Health at Loughborough University, the scheme was less ambitious than its Finnish counterpart - merely designed to find out what kinds of exercise middle-aged drinking men might consider. "We got them together and promised them beer the whole time they talked. They were very frank. Every one of them thought exercise was fine. Fine for everyone else that is, "says Almond. "There was absolutely no chance of even getting them to use their cars less and walk more. "

Absolutely totally key:

What is striking about the Finnish scheme to get people more physically active is the depth and breadth of its reach and the duration for which it has been sustained. It also hit the right tack from the off, first by selling enjoyable activities to people that happened to require physical activity, and second ensuring exercise was the cheap and easy choice to make.

Pleasure is key. Hardly no one will create a habit that is not at all pleasurable. It will backfire sooner or later, usually sooner.

Excellent point:

"People always talk about not having enough time. I think that's rubbish. If life is so busy you really can't squeeze in a brisk walk, your life is a mess, "says Fogelholm. "If people took the amount of time they spent watching TV on one day and made it their whole week's exercise, we'd have no problem. "

UPDATE - jan-20-2005:

Amazing!!!

The First Nonsmoking Nation
Bhutan banned tobacco. Could the rest of the world follow?

If it depends on me, yes!

So, how has Bhutan managed to pull off a nationwide smoking ban while other nations dither? Bhutan is a Buddhist nation, and many Buddhists believe smoking is bad for their karma. Then again, Sri Lanka and Thailand are also predominantly Buddhist, and plenty of people smoke there.

The answer lies not in Bhutan's religion but in its famous quirkiness. This is a country that has elevated contrariness to a national trait. Convention says an impoverished yet stunningly beautiful nation like Bhutan should welcome tourists with open arms—and count the dollars. Yet Bhutan restricts the number of foreign tourists (about 9,000 last year) and charges fees of $200 per day. Convention says that gross national product is the best measure of national progress. Yet Bhutan is aiming for another mark: What it calls "gross national happiness."

GNH is what every country should be primarily concerned with.