LeMon Aid: A grassroots approach to health reform

I have the answer, but no one wants to hear it.

Today, we are looking at a revision of our national health care program which will cost us in excess of $1 trillion.

In our collective angst over that number with all its frightening zeros, I just want everyone to know I have a solution on how to significantly lower this price tag and guarantee world-class medical care. But, in keeping with past history, no one wants to hear it.

So even though you did not ask for it, here are three health initiatives our nation can begin immediately to guarantee quality and affordable health care.

Fight the fat

First up is addressing our obesity epidemic, which no one wants to talk about in public. Obesity is costing our health care system a mere $147 billion annually, according to RTI International.

Before your blood pressure starts to lift off like a Saturn booster rocket, here are the numbers and facts.

A certain amount of body fat is needed to be healthy. We store energy, insulate ourselves against temperature extremes and provide natural shock absorption with the right amount of fat. The normal amount of body fat is 25 percent to 30 percent in women and 18 percent to 23 percent in men. The body fat index is the weight of your body in kilograms divided by your height in meters. Obesity is defined as a BMI of 30 and above, according to MedecineNet.com.

So what's the problem with a BMI of 30 and higher? The main culprit is insulin resistance. Insulin is necessary to move blood glucose (sugar) into the cells of muscle and fat. Fat cells are more insulin resistant therefore causing the pancreas to crank up production of insulin and, over a period of time, Type 2 diabetes develops. This condition starts the domino-effect with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stroke, heart attack, congestive heart failure, osteoarthritis and sleep apnea cascading into our health care system.

Now, I can hear the response: "I am genetically predisposed to be obese." You are right; the hormones you inherited from your family album can make weight control more difficult.

The other option is much more difficult. We are just munching too much high-fat food in massive quantities. And the medical care needed to treat this national malady is becoming astronomical.

Stop smoking

The second health care cost that is directly in our hands is smoking cigarettes.

According to the World Health Organization just two months ago, 1 billion people will die from tobacco-related causes by the end of this century, if current consumption trends continue.

New York Mayor Michel Bloomberg, a former two-pack-a-day smoker, recently spent $2 million of his own money to fund a study about smoking in the U.S. His report discovered 5.4 million people will die - that is one every six seconds - from lung cancer, heart disease or other illnesses directly related to the use of tobacco, including smokeless products.

After reading this factual information you can almost hear the health care adding machine in this nation spinning numbers faster than a Vegas slot machine that just hit the jackpot.

The wink and the nod this society has given to this habit is reprehensible. But what is worse is, with tobacco-stained fingers, we will thump some political podium with diatribes about the "big brother" encroachment of government into our personal lives.

While trying to come up with the cash to literally save our lives, we continue to bum another smoke.

Take a hike

The third initiative is nestled into the cushions of our favorite reclining Archie Bunker chairs.

The health care costs of a sedentary lifestyle are staggering. When moving from the dinner table with its strewn remnants of delivered pizza to the recliner with its pocket for the TV remote counts as our physical workout for the day, why would we not expect to show up in some hospital emergency waiting room?

All three of these contributing factors are costing us. Yes, bucks!

The litany of responses to this column will undoubtedly include, "I have a God-given right to live, eat, smoke and move the way I want to. I don't need the government or some celery-munching columnist to tell me how to live."

You know what, you are right. But your unhealthy lifestyle is costing me.

I am appealing for personal responsibility and learning to say "no" to what is not healthy for any of us.Cal LeMon of Springfield-based Executive Enrichment Inc. solves organizational problems with customized training and consulting.