miller Health Occupational Health and Fitness

Index

OATSBJH MAY 2010

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John Miller conducted a Health Management program for The Group in May 2010.

171 people, completed the Health, Fitness and Wellbeing profiles: -

HEALTH, FITNESS AND WELLBEING PROFILE

The Health, Fitness and Wellbeing profile provides people with a very good idea of how well the various systems of the body are functioning, particularly the

• the mind

• autonomic nervous system

• immune system

• digestive system

• circulatory system

• elimination system

• musculo-skeletal system.

	Symptom	None		Not much			A fair bit			A lot
1.	Headaches including migraines	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
2.	Lack of energy and vitality	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
3.	Candida - jock itch, thrush, tinea ...	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
4.	Poor sleep. If on tablets score 10	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
5.	Snoring &/or sleep apnoea. Score 10 if using a mask	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
6.	Crook back, stiff neck, sore shoulders, dicky knee RSI ...	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
7.	Frequent colds, flu, sinus	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
8.	Unsettled stomach, reflux (Score 10 if on medication)	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
9.	Overweight - 1 point for every 2Kg	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
10.	Irritable bowel, constipation	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11.	Asthma	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
12.	Low level of aerobic fitness	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
13.	Chest pain, palpitations	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
14.	Rashes, itchiness, skin outbreaks, psoriasis ...	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
15.	Mouth ulcers, cold sores	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
16.	Elevated blood pressure. Score 0 on pills	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
17.	Elevated blood cholesterol. Score o if on pills	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
18.	Elevated blood glucose. Score 0 if on medication	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
19.	Shakes, nervous ticks, mannerisms	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
20.	Grinding teeth	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
21.	Alcoholic drinks per day (2 pts/drink)	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
22.	Smoking. (1 pt/cigarette/day)	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
23.	Caffeine (1 pt/cup per day)	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
24.	Anxious about life, insecure, apprehensive	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
25.	Sad or depressed (On medication, score 0)	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
26.	In wrong job for now	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
27.	Under-appreciated at work	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
28.	Have poor work/life balance	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
29.	Unhappy with family life	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
30.	Unhappy with financial status	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10

Score

The score of a normal, fit and healthy human being is less than 20

Higher scores are symptomatic of dysfunction of one or more body systems.

People with high levels of stress usually score well over 100.

For people with a score of more than 80, the ‘background noise’ of their life is becoming louder and louder. It is hard to concentrate on your work when the metabolic, musculo-skeletal and psychological body systems are dysfunctional.

We know a fit and healthy group when we see the majority of scores below 40. This was not the case with this group. By and large higher scores are usually a reflection of

• low levels of fitness

• an inability to deal with what life and work are serving up to people.

Remember, it is not what happens, but how we deal with what happens that determines our level of stress.

Classification of average scores: Excellent - less than 40. Good - 41 - 50. Fair 51-60. Poor - over 60.

This profile is described as poor. The average score was 88. Anyone scoring more than 80 is putting up with a lot of 'background noise'.

HEALTH CLIMATE SURVEY

Based on scores received in the Health, Fitness and Wellbeing profile we've compiled a Health Climate Survey. Scores on each item have ranked - the higher the score the worse the problem. We added the scores for each item. The results appear in the table below.

We registered those scores of 5 and over as being a symptom, issue or concern, the most pressing of which have been highlighted.

Symptoms/ issues / concerns	% of people scoring over 5	Number of people scoring 10 out of a total number of 171 people
Crook back, sore shoulders …	71	14
Lack of Energy	63	3
Poor sleep	60	14
Under appreciated at work	51	14
Low level of fitness	51	9
Wrong job	50	17
Anxious	46	7
Overweight	43	29
Headaches	40	0
Poor work-life balance	38	9
Depressed	33	20
Financial status	33	9
Reflux, unsettled stomach	32	12
Snoring, sleep apnoea	30	5
Frequent colds, flu, sinus	28	3
Irritable bowel, constipation etc	27	5
Unhappy family life	24	6
Grinding teeth	23	5
Elevated cholesterol	19	15
Itchy, rashes, psoriasis	18	1
Elevated blood pressure	18	20
Caffeine	13	2
Candida	13	0
Alcohol	12	0
Chest pain, palpitations	12	0
Shortness of breath from asthma	11	1
Mouth ulcers	11	0
Shakes, nervous mannerisms	11	0
Smoking	8	0
Elevated glucose	7	6

Perception

Based on people's perception (where they gave a particular symptom a score of 5 or more, and backed up by objective scores) the key issues are

	Musculo-skeletal dysfunction 71% of people said they had some sort of musculo-skeletal dysfunction. Musculo-skeletal dysfunction goes with low levels of strength and flexibility. Those at greatest risk need encouragement to attend a strength and flexibility training program several times a week. All staff need to be involved in a daily, 10 minute flexibility work out.

	Lack of energy 63% of people said they lacked energy. Low levels of energy come from many sources, including: - - lack of a good aerobic fitness training program - a diet high in wheat flour and sugar - dullness

	Poor sleep 60% of people do not sleep soundly - it takes them a long time to go to sleep, they wake in the middle of the night, they don't wake up refreshed. The first casualty of anxiety is poor sleep. Lack of a regular and vigorous physical activity program is also attended by poor sleep.

	Under-appreciation at work 51% said they were under-appreciated at work. This is a poor result. Managers and staff need to have a big think about what can be done to improve this score

	Being in the wrong job 50% of people said they were in the wrong job. There is usually a high and positive correlation between people being in the wrong job and people saying they are under-appreciated at work. In this case this rule applied. Too many people are in the wrong job and too many people feel under-appreciated at work.

	Fitness 51% said they were unfit. We recommend staff be given the greatest encouragement to leave the workplace at lunch time and get in some physical activity. One organisation we work for gives staff an hour and a half off for lunch, providing people exercise during that time. Fitness has a significant bearing on the scores for low levels of energy, poor sleep, snoring, depression and headaches.

	Depression and anxiety 46% of people indicated they were anxious. 33% indicated gave themselves a score of 5 or more in answer to the question 'Are you depressed'. There is an epidemic of depression in our community and we encourage all organisations to target depression. 20 people (11%) out of a total of 171 were on anti-depressant medication. There is a significant core of depression that relates to poor health generally. All body systems are connected. The epidemic of depression will continue to escalate at the same rate as the epidemic of all other body system dysfunctions. People need to be given encouragement to exercise regularly and vigorous, eat less flour and sugar and imbibe less of the culturally chemicals - particularly nicotine, caffeine and alcohol. Because of the relationship of depression to fitness and diet there is a chance that some people have been misdiagnosed. Some aspects of depression relate to psychologically generated issues. It is important that these people be encouraged to have regular counselling - through the EAP or other counsellors - The best book about depression I've read, and what you can do about it, and one that I recommend highly is by psychiatrist, David Servan-Schreiber, Healing Without Freud or Prozac.

•	Obesity 43% of people said they were more than 10Kg over weight. It's a symptom of metabolic dysfunction and relates to high energy diets and low energy lifestyles. It's suggestive of elevated levels of insulin floating around the body, which is a precursor of all manner of body system dysfunctions - elevated blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, elevated blood glucose. The recommendation, that people need to get more exercise (at lunch time) and eat from the top of the Hourglass.

	Headaches 40% of people reported they had headaches on a regular basis. Headaches are associated with - tension in neck muscles - unhealthy sinuses - food intolerances - lack of physical fitness - stress - ....

	Poor work/life balance 38% of people indicated they had a poor work/life balance. Some of the people fitting into this category are women (a few men) with young children. These people have a shift before work, a shift at work, a shift after work and the night shift as well. The pressure of life is exceptionally high. There appears to be little time to achieve a work/life balance. I recommend the organisation give special consideration to these people.

	Poor financial status 33% indicated they were under financial stress.

	Snoring 30% of people said they snored loudly enough for it to be a problem. The recipe for a good snore is to be male, be unfit and at least 20Kg over weight, to have high blood pressure, have a few drinks every night, be stressed out of their brain and sleep on their back.

	Colds and flu 28%. Symptom of a depressed immune system, one which can be strengthened by eating from the top of the Hourglass and getting plenty of aerobic exercise.

	Family life 24% indicated they had an un happy family life.

	Blood pressure 18% of people indicated they had elevated blood pressure. 20 people were on blood pressure medication. Blood pressure is a symptom of body system dysfunction relating directly to - lack of aerobic fitness - being over weight - being stressed.

	Alcohol intake Very few people, (only 12%) indicated a higher than acceptable level of alcohol consumption. I don't agree with the medical charities that you should have a drink every night. The people score lowest in the Health, Fitness and Wellbeing profile only have a couple of drinks a week, if that. The problem with alcohol is that will power dissolves in it. Once you've had one, you're more likely to have another, and another ... Then out come the chips and cashews, finishing off with a couple rounds of Tim Tams.

	Smoking 8% of people smoked. There were 8 confirmed smokers out of 171 people. This is a very low figure, well below the community average of around 18%. Now lets move heaven and earth to assist these people to give it away altogether.

	Type 2 diabetes 7%, (6 people) were on diabetes medication. By and large type 2 diabetes is a fitness problem caused by a lack of regular, vigorous physical activity, a high flour and sugar diet and obesity.

RECOMMENDATIONS

See the generic list of recommendations that cover all our profiles.