Millennials are the children of the baby boomer generation, filled with optimism, cherisher’s of flexibility and independence while also demanding access to instant communication via social media.

What Millennials fail to realize is that they are also the victims of the childhood obesity epidemic.  Scary, right?

There are two things that many Millennials do not consider when it comes to their health:

1.     My lifestyle habits from high school can easily transfer over to adulthood  

2.     My career will be impacted by the health choices I make

Let’s explore….

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that two-thirds of high school students did not meet the recommended guidelines for physical activity. Majority of students spent their time playing video games or watching television. 5 Now I know I am not the only one that can attest to this, I remember my exact go to after spending eight long hours at school, which was straight to my bed with the T.V blasting until I fell asleep.

      To make matters worse over 75% of high school students did not eat the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables. 5 During your high school years you are dependent on the food provided for you at home and the lunch menu at school. At my high school chicken tenders and burgers were usually the go-to and vegetables were RARE or just plain scary looking.

The transition from high school to college is very interesting, you are propelled into a world of independence where you make the majority of your choices without soliciting advice from anyone else. Independence also comes with responsibility and it’s hard for an 18 year old to say, “Man I need to take responsibility for my health.” and instantly break old habits. If you do not make an active decision to change old habits then you will continue to choose chicken tenders over a salad and the T.V will remain your safe haven after work.

Now lets delve into the workforce…

Obese persons consistently miss more workdays resulting in lower wages compared to non-obese individuals. 1 Fast food, fried food, and cheap energy dense food (ie. chips, candy, cookies) have no positive affects on your body, leaving you with less energy and put your health at risk.  If the majority of your days are spent feeling yucky and unmotivated these feelings will present you with many mornings where you are contemplating if you “feel” like going to work.

We tend to think that our lack of energy comes with age, the time of the month, the weather, or our stress from work, but a lot of times it is because of the foods we consume. Eating majority fast food will not give your body the nutrients and minerals needed to function at its best and staying clear of the gym only makes things worse.

Let’s take it up a notch…

You think discrimination in the workforce only affects certain races, genders and individuals with a disability? NOPE, think again. Some workplaces that provide health insurance even discriminate against obese workers out of fear of spending excessive amounts of money on health care costs.  2, 3 Corporate America is all about making money and having workers that will deliver for the overall benefit of the company.  They are not hiring out of empathy but instead first impressions and how you will be an asset to their business. Unfortunately, they are taking this first impression to the next level and assessing your physical appearance to see if you will benefit them or run up their healthcare funds.

Do I think it is right to judge a person solely based on appearance, uhhh NO. But these companies are looking at the 78.5 billion dollars spent on health issues linked to obesity 4 and they are looking to find ways to avoid added costs.

Wake up Millennials! I know we didn’t experience the most fascinating health classes and we grew up in school systems where they deemed P.E. as a waste of time and not a necessity, but we must revamp our relationship with health. It starts with small changes, cutting back on sugary drinks, eating out only on weekends and using the gym for more than a quick selfie. Love your body, discipline your mind and reap the benefits.

About ThinkWell.

The whole purpose of ThinkWell. Is to EDUCATE. It's "full name" is "ThinkWell. Beyond the Sweat" because health involves the mind, body and your thoughts, which are three topics that she focuses on in relation to exercise. 

The founder started the page because 1. she has a passion for educating people about health and fitness and 2. She has become sickened by the "fitness industry" on Instagram. It has become an environment where the people who have mastered exercise and nutrition flaunt their bodies in barely any clothing without giving all of these followers that they have developed any information to help promote a healthy lifestyle within the community. Since she has a degree in Exercise Science she has spotted too many accounts that give out incorrect exercises and information to people.

 She also understands that science is overwhelming for a lot of people and it's hard to dissociate trends from facts so she decided that she needed to take all of the knowledge she received as an Exercise Science major and do her part by meeting people where they are at. ThinkWell. uses imagery to capture people's attention followed by knowledge that can fester into change. Education is key with health and wellness but there are too many people promoting their physique rather than what can actually develop change in people's lives that look up to them.

Sources:

1. Baum, C. L., 2nd, & Ford, W. F. (2004). The wage effects of obesity: A longitudinal study. Health Economics, 13(9), 885–899.

2. Bhattacharya, J., & Bundorf, K. (2005). The incidence of the healthcare costs of obesity.http://www.nber.org/papers/w11303.pdf?new_window=1

3. Finkelstein, E., Fiebelkorn, C., & Wang, G. (2005). The costs of obesity among full-time employees. American Journal of Health Promotion, 20(1), 45–51.

4. Journal of Business and Psychology, 2010, Volume 25, Number 2, Page 239

Shari L. Barkin, William J. Heerman, Michael D. Warren, Christina Rennhoff

5. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2008). 2007 National youth risk behavior survey overview. Retrieved August 4, 2009, fromhttp://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/yrbs/pdf/yrbs07_us_overview.pdf.