Hi everybody,
How are you all doing since last time we met?
The time was really too short for discussing this big issue with different parts that we could really have a good talk about. During the time of our group discussion,I jotted down something I wanted to say if there was time, but really didn't have the chance to say, so I'll just put it here.
It was fun to hear that Caroline's office held a "step-counting" competition for all the staff to encourage them to walk as much as possible. And because the office will make the ranking public, so people start to exercise more in order not to look bad on the ranking. No matter what the motivations are, the competition really worked! When I first heard about the weight-losing program in the news report, I doubted the effectiveness of it, cause it sounds like the authorities take people as children, and make them do things that they don't necessarily want to do, though it is something that would do them good. But in my mind, people should take the initiatives themselves on this matter. The government can help awake ppl's self-consciousness or give them a hand when the time is right. Holding contests/programs is compulsive and degrading as if saying" You're overweight, and the authorities think that you don't have the ability to take responsibility of yourself, so you have to join our weight-losing program." And I remember that Caroline mentioned that she stops doing it on holidays, if my memory was correct. From what's been collected, I think contests/programs CAN be effective, but only in short terms.
However, making this-- losing weight, caring about what you eat, making yourself healthy and strong, even changing your lifestyle-- to have long term effects, it takes a lot of work and determination, but it's not impossible. Lots of things can work, the company can help, the government can pitch in. For example, in the beginning of promoting healthier lifestyle, is it possible that companies let their staff to work out DURING office hours? It may sound a little bit crazy, but it's a good way for those companies to show that they value the health of their employees, and they also value these people who want to be healthy, productive, creative and efficient in work, and not those who work 18 hours a day and die at the age of 30. Or, as we discussed last time, work out a way to reduce the work load per person. Or, still there are other ways to lose weight if we don't solely take exercise and diet into account. Once I heard a sales person who sells some nutritional products that help lose weight said that the boss of a famous company told all their department managers to use their product in order to be more persuasive because they've “managed” themselves so well.
Has anyone heard of Jamie Oliver? He's an English cook who runs at least three restaurants both in England and Australia and makes cooking shows. With the advantage of media, he also promotes healthier eating habits. To name a few, he invited people to come to the show and piled real pork fat or sugar in front of people, or asked a volunteer to sit in a tub, and gradually poured oil into it to show them how many excess calories that they've taken each day or each month. In another series, feeling that process foods are jeopardizing children both in England and America, he challenged the school cooks and together they worked out how to make big portion, healthy, easily-cooked lunch for children! Not to mention in all his cooking shows, he puts emphasis on how easily it is to cook with simple and fresh ingredients.
Thank you for taking time to read. Hope we can have further discussions over this topic!
Julie
Hi Julie,
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for sharing all the interesting information and your great ideas!
I agree with you that it seems that this topic could be continued if we have chances to do so.
For now, I don't know how and what the authorities can make applicable policies to help overweight employees"to be in good shape" in workplaces. I have now just few funny crazy thoughts/questions in mind:
a. Who exactly are overweight, or easily get weight in workplaces?
We learnt from the news that males are more than females, right? But it seemed that job positions/works they do had not been fully discussed that I think also matters to this issue.
b. Would the policies apply to all fairly enough, still with respects to individuals?
Yes, weight-losing programs might not be effective in long terms if not properly considering certain difficulties such as people's lifestyles and diet habits! Still, are there overweight people who really need to work more than 16 hours to raise their families unlike those who could luckily choose not to work so hard and not to earn more money?? Or, are there people just not creative nor efficient in work but they are so willing to work harder than others in order to keep their jobs to raise their families?? Well, perpaps such people just couldn't be overweight because they don't even have enough time or money to eat much! Eh, sorry that might come to another issue about social welfare policies, I guess, ha!
I heard from someone that when he was working in America, his company provided shower rooms and places to put bikes. Thus biking to work seemed to be an easy and natural thing to do, cause the company supported it in hardware. Another company in Taiwan broadcasts music in the morning for their employees to do simple gymnastics near their seats. Thought it sounds a bit like back to elementary school, but it shows that the company wants the employees to start a day with spirits. Perhaps companies can work with nearby gyms to give employees more discount when they go there to exercise, or like the latter, sacrifice a little bit of time for their employees to get up and move.
ReplyDeleteFor people with heavy workload, we come up with a way to reduce workload and make more time. For those with little workload, we create motivations to exercise. But for the job position, I don't think that matters that much. Can you give more information about what you think, Ellen?
Next you hit a critical point, what right do we have to judge other people's lifestyle? Mmm..., it's true we don't. But, it's for their (people) own good. The "We",aka the authority, should be in parallel position with people, not someone who comes here to pick out the unfit people and cure them. I
think people should have the right to choose whether they want to join a program or not. The government can't force them to do so. What the government should do is to provide enough backup, be it hardware, policy, indications to companies for adjusting workload, compensation for company lost because of supporting this campaign. I'm sure there are lots of things that the government can do, if it really wants to get this wave going. And of course, budgets.
And we come to, what I think, the most difficult part. There are people working all day, getting little money, not eating well, being tired all the time, and do not want to do anymore exercise or make any changes in life. I think the social welfare system should step in. But saying this is very irresponsible. I guess I have to find more information about it.
Julie