Health is More Than Just Diet + Exercise
Speaking of food…
In last week’s email, I referenced a number of factors, outside diet and exercise, that contribute to a person’s health.
These “social determinants of health” include “the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age,” according to the World Health Organization.
These are things like financial stability, employment status, disability status, social support, neighborhood and community, access to housing and basic healthcare, and more.
We often overlook these factors and instead focus on things we can control…or rather, things we think we can control.
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It might seem like “eat healthy” and “exercise” are simple behaviors, but for different people in different circumstances, it may be much more complex.
It’s easy to “eat healthy” if you can buy fresh produce and prime cuts of meat, because you have your pick of grocery stores, transportation to get to the store, and the money to pay for it.
It’s a little harder if you live in a so-called food desert where there might be one grocery store (if that) and it might not be stocked with fresh food. Or maybe you live somewhat close but you don’t have a car, or you can’t drive yourself and there’s no public transportation to that store, and if you’re on government assistance, you’re restricted to specific items.
Simply telling a person in any of those situations to just “eat healthy” is unhelpful and won't actually help improve their nutrition.
Many of my clients struggle to exercise regularly, even though they have a gym membership and a personal trainer.
If it’s tough for someone who lives close to a nice facility and has the money to pay for a membership and training -- and it is tough to make a lasting behavior change! -- imagine how tough might it be for someone who:
doesn’t live close to a gym
doesn’t have safe transportation to a gym
can't afford a gym membership
can afford a gym like planet fitness that doesn’t have childcare, but has no one else who can watch their kids
can afford a gym with childcare, but the nursery hours don't line up with their work schedule
can’t afford a gym membership and doesn’t live in a safe neighborhood so they can’t walk, run, or exercise outside...
If someone lives in a less-populated or less-economically advantaged area, without access to their choice of grocery stores or fitness options, it’s also likely they may not have affordable or reliable access to a lot of things — like internet or medical care.
Without a solid internet connection, even if they could afford to stream workouts at home, they may not be able to. Even if they wanted to order have healthier food options online, they might not be able to get them delivered.
Without a local doctor or hospital, they might not be able to get treated for basic illness or injuries, especially if they don’t have the time off work or the transportation to travel to the nearest healthcare clinic. Nagging pains and injuries that might be easily treated or that could benefit from exercise might snowball into chronic pain that prevents a person from moving adequately.
These kinds of social, community, and environmental factors have a much larger impact on someone's health than their personal lifestyle choices, which are the things the fitness industry focuses on more.
If "health and fitness professionals" actually care about making people healthier -- not just the people who can pay for gym memberships and organic groceries -- we also need to advocate for things like accessible healthcare including mental healthcare, walkable communities, debt relief, safe transportation, and quality education.
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Today, as we hear about “the land of the free” and “liberty and justice for all,” remember that our free will and personal liberties are often intertwined with circumstances outside our control, and we can’t really be the land of the free until all of us are free to live our lives as we choose.
