“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It's not.”
― Dr. Seuss, The Lorax
Diabetes Australia identifies Diabetes as ‘the biggest challenge confronting Australia’s health system’.
This is something to care a whole awful lot about.
According to Diabetes Australia:
- 280 Australians develop diabetes every day, that's one person every 5 minutes.
- There are an estimated half a million of undiagnosed cases of Type 2 Diabetes in Australia.
- The cost of diabetes in Australia is estimated at $14.6 billion.
- Diabetes is increasing at a faster rate than any other chronic disease, including heart disease and cancer.
- Type 2 diabetes accounts for 85% of all diabetes and is increasing.
Seth Godin says "When enough people care about autism or diabetes or global warming, it helps everyone, even if only a tiny fraction actively participate."
After reading an article in the Sydney Morning Herald recently that highlighted the diabetes facts above and the impact diabetes is having on the population of western Sydney I felt compelled to take action. But what is effective action?
Even if you can't or don't know how to take action on this significant health issue, it is certainly time to care about it at least a little because the ramifications are more far reaching than just impacting those with a diagnosis.
Diabetes has been on the radar as a health issue for a very long time. There is plenty of education available for individuals who receive a diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes, plus support and resources aimed at helping these people manage their condition. Yet, Type 2 diabetes, a condition which for the most part could be preventable, accounts for 85% of all diabetes cases and is increasing. The solutions in place are not yet working.
My colleague and I spent a little time braintstorming solutions on this one and here's a little food for thought from the ideas we tabled.
- Integrate foreign customs into our lifestyle.
My 7 year old's best friends at school are Japanese and Korean, cultures that are now strong influences on daily life where we live. In these countries it is customary to sit on the floor to eat. We love their food, so maybe try eating it the way they do. Having the ability to get up and down from the floor before and after eating could have a profound impact on what people consume whilst they are sitting, and may also add to the mindfulness of the whole process. Mindful eating ... a possible first step towards a solution.
The ability to sit down on the ground from standing and get back up again without aid is now understood to be a predictor of more serious health issues. - Create opportunities for movement at every age .
There is a brilliant TED talk that tells the story of a Japanese kindergarten that has been built specifically to cater for the needs of small children to move, and move often.
https://www.ted.com/talks/takaharu_tezuka_the_best_kindergarten_you_ve_ever_seen
The opportunity for movement exists everywhere.
Architecture could indeed provide a solution to incremental movement for our sedentary population. Taking the discussion to the sedentary populations to find out the things that interest themand could stimulate them to move could be a helpful step towards implementing design changes that bring back opportunities for movement.
- Support our farmers and shop locally for our produce.
Learn to cook real food and educate the population on how to set up and maintain a sustainable home garden that would provide the basic building blocks of a healthy diet - herbs for flavour, veges for colour and fruit for fun. You could even throw a chicken in for eggs and start a compost to promote healthy soil. It puts the responsibility for healthy eating squarely in the hands of the individual and teaches life skills that you never know when you might need (check out Martian the movie with Matt Damon's innovative potato crop). Knowing how to grow and cook your own food is the magic dust for a healthy lifestyle.
Brainstorming ideas is fun and we could / should do more of it. If only we had the time. Think of hours wasted in doctors surgeries and in debilitating pain that limits the realisation of potential of so many in our population, and perhaps keeps the solution to this problem buried deep within those that have it.
Putting healthy living, movement and eating well top of the agenda and making it the responsibility of every individual and their family is essential to improve and sustain the health of our nation. Statistics are good to know but they don't offer a solution to the problem. Working together we can stop pointing the finger at government to save lives, and do it for ourselves.
