Business Engagement in Building Healthy Communities Workshop Summary (2015) / Chapter Skim
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2 Lessons from the Blue Zones
2 Lessons from the Blue Zones
Pages 5-14
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From page 5... ...
. A team of experts then used established methodologies to try to determine why people had such remarkable longevity in these areas, which were dubbed "blue zones." The intent, Buettner explained, was to identify lessons or principles that could be applied to build healthier communities and to help people live longer and better lives.
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From page 6... ...
Nicoya, Costa Rica The Nicoya peninsula of Costa Rica has the lowest rate of middle-age mortality in the world, yet Costa Rica spends only 15 percent of what America does on health care. People in Nicoya are more than twice as likely as Americans to reach a healthy age 90, which indicates, Buettner emphasized, that people do not necessarily need to be rich or have the best health care treatment to be healthy.
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From page 7... ...
Regardless of location, the same nine lifestyle characteristics were identified across all five blue zone environments, which Buettner termed the "Power 9 ®" principles. Activity, outlook, and diet are key factors, and the foundation underlying behaviors is how people in blue zones connect with others (see Figure 2-1)
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In all five blue zones, people eat a large breakfast and a smaller lunch, and dinner is the smallest meal of the day. Connections • Loved Ones First Centenarians spend a lot of time and effort working on their relationships with their spouses and children.
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, and while there is sometimes initial success in changing health behaviors, once the spotlight is off and the health researchers and media are gone, people revert to their baseline behaviors. One successful example Buettner did identify took place in North Karelia in Eastern Finland.
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People increase activity without gym memberships or exercise classes by, for example, walking or ikingb to school, work, or shopping. Social networks are also important in the life radius, strategically bringing together people who are ready to change their habits and setting up a network to spread the lifestyle.
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Buettner described workshops on purpose and initiatives to connect people to volunteering, noting that volunteers have lower rates of cardiovascular disease and lower health care costs. 12 Pillars Taking the life radius approach forward, Buettner and his team focus on 12 "pillars." The first three pillars are areas in which city governments can make a difference: the built environment, food policy, and tobacco policy.
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From page 12... ...
Participants also self-reported a collective weight loss of 7,280 pounds. The city of Albert Lea independently reported a 40 percent drop in health care costs for city workers.
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From page 13... ...
Impressive drops in obesity rates and increased health care costs savings are already being observed, and Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Iowa actuaries are calculating a health care savings over a 10-year period of $5 billion due to the establishment of blue zones. New blue zone projects are now starting up in Fort Worth, Texas, and Kauai, Hawaii.
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From page 14... ...
Buettner clarified further that the Blue Zones project does not necessarily assess individual readiness as much as leadership readiness and whether the private and public sectors are open to innovation. Sign-on from the leadership components usually reflects the support of a larger population, he said.
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