Category Archives: Prevention

Feature: The Prevention Plan pushes for a healthier society

By Kate Foley, Fearless Ambition


Americans are faced with a growing epidemic. It can be found in every state, in most communities, even in many homes. It is spread through social messages, advertising and simple bad habits. This epidemic is unhealthy living, and there are forces fighting against it every day.

One man on the front lines for healthful lifestyles is Dr. Sami Bég, Associate Medical Director of U.S. Preventive Medicine. A medical doctor specializing in preventive medicine, he and his team have developed The Prevention Plan, a product marketed to companies to teach their employees healthy eating and living habits. The Prevention Plan currently serves about 60 companies and their employees, but Bég says the number of companies joining continues to rise.

Right now, Bég’s team is in the early stages of developing The Prevention Plan for Kids. The concept is based on the very real situation that American kids are becoming increasingly unhealthy, which could have serious effects, both short- and long-term.

“We are facing an epidemic,” Bég said. “Kids who normally would never be at risk for diseases like diabetes and heart problems are now being diagnosed with preconditions for these diseases.”

Bég says unhealthy diets and inactive lifestyles are the main problem. One attribute to this is a child’s home life.

“Parents don’t always know what’s best [for kids’ diets]. They were never taught healthy eating,” Bég said. “So bad habits they practice become the norm for a child who doesn’t know any better.”

However, home life is not the only factor that determines what a kid eats. Bég says one of the leading factors is the food and inactive lifestyle marketed to kids through advertisements and the media.

“It used to be that TV would mimic real life, but now real life mimics TV. The media needs to be responsible for their actions, their content and what they sell to kids.”

With all the new entertainment options, Bég says, kids are not going outside as much or engaging in their community. Instead of playing sports or doing outdoor activities like children of previous generations, today’s kids spend much of their time in front of the TV, watching shows or playing video games. Though this is obviously not the case for all children, it is making a significant impact on the overall generation. Bég is concerned that the growing rate of inactivity could lead to serious results for these children later in life.

“The life span of this upcoming generation is going to be shorter than that of their parents,” Bég said. “Kids’ life spans have decreased, which means we are going backwards. The status quo was  to not take this health concern seriously, but we are now beginning to see some progress. We need to continue to educate and bring people together in order to see a movement toward a healthier community.”

This is exactly what the Prevention Plan for Kids will try to do. As a supplement to the original Prevention Plan product, it will target children of company employees, teaching the entire family healthful living and eating habits through programs and modules. Lesson plans will cover topics like nutrition, safe and healthy exercise, understanding how the body works, and other engaging topics that will be entertaining as well as informative for kids.

Bég says there will also be a parents’ component to the plan, with advice on how to raise their kids, question and answer sections, and who to contact for other questions or concerns.

“The problem of an unhealthy America needs to be evaluated from various angles in order to come up with the most comprehensive solution.  The government needs to play a role, as does the media, businesses, schools, families and doctors,” Bég said. “Only when we connect the important stakeholders and provide them with a clear road map to a culture of wellness, can we create a sort of place where kids are engaged, motivated and inspired to be healthy.”

How to Avoid Menopausal Weight Gain

Jennifer Morris with Howdini interviews Elizabeth Somer a Registered Dietician and author of 10 Habits That Mess Up a Woman’s Diet. Starting in our 30’s we begin trading muscle for fat.  Good news is you always have the ability to lose weight.  Increasing exercise throughout your 30’s and 40’s and of course keeping it up, is the key to not noticing the weight gain while menopause starts.  An hour of exercise a day with some weight lifting is very important to maintain muscle mass.  This will boost your metabolism and get you through it without unwanted weight gain.  Get movin’ girls and don’t blame Menopause for your weight gain.