Yesterday, the Minister of Health and Human Services Anthony Eden and his staff began a 21-day health challenge in effort to bring about some healthful lifestyle changes.
Done in collaboration with the Public Health Department and several private sector partners, the health challenge will hopefully show the participants that little changes in their lives can make large differences in their health.
Participants will be tested before and after taking the programme for such things as blood sugar levels, body mass index, water content and body fat levels.
The programme will teach ways the participants can improve their health through dietary choices, exercise and stress management.
It is said that it takes 21 days to make or break a habit, and the programme is just as much about making new healthy habits as it is about breaking unhealthy ones.
Relatively easy things like taking a piece of fruit to work to snack on instead of buying a candy bar or drinking water instead of soft drinks can make a big difference to a person’s health.
So can regularly walking up a flight of stairs instead of taking the elevator, or parking toward the back of a car park instead at the front. Those extra steps, added up over weeks, months and years, make a difference.
The way we recognize and deal with stress can also have a huge impact on our lives. Often, people will turn to destructive vices like smoking and drinking as a way of dealing with stress, which only compounds the problem.
Instead, people can try taking a walk, swimming in the ocean or doing a puzzle of some sort as an alternative and healthier ways of dealing with stress.
The main thing is to incorporate these little changes into your lifestyle and make it a habit.
We hope Mr. Eden and his staff will be successful in starting their own healthy habits during their 21-day health challenge.
But the programme is not being undertaken just for their benefit.
The Ministry of Health and Human Services hopes it can encourage all government agencies as well as the private sector to consider offering the programme to their employees.
We congratulate the Ministry for setting an example we should all follow to better health.
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