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During the height of tensions with Iran last year, the United States conducted an unprecedented series of war games. Over five months, from May until the end of September, 93 separate military exercises were held, with forces operating continuously in, above and around 29 countries.

The games, which practiced everything from ground platoon tactics to cyber warfare, weren't held in the Mideast and weren't directed at Tehran. They were directed against Moscowand constituted the most intense uninterrupted set of drills since the end of the Cold War.

The activity was the culmination of a buildup that began after Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014. Though American armed forces were fighting several "hot wars" and engaged in crisis deployments in response to both Iran and North Korea, the shift to practicing "high end" warfare tasks dominated. The focus was also undeniably anti-Russia,with the number of European games ten times the number of China-related drills held at the same time.

"In the shadow of the deteriorating European security environment, the size and scope of NATO and Russian military exercises have increased significantlyeven dramatically," a NATO parliamentary committee reported in October. The committee worried that NATO doesn't possess sufficient ground troops in Eastern Europe to deter Russian inference or attack. It also pointed to Moscow's own high-profile war games, many involving scenarios that include the use of nuclear weapons in a European war.

While the conventional view is one of Russian advantage, the new figures show that the United States and its European partners far outstrip Moscow. These "persistent heel-to-toe" operations, as the military calls them, where one exercise begins as another ends, emphasize rapid aircraft deployments and dispersal to forward bases. Much of the emphasis last year was on fighter aircraft and bomber scatterings, showcasing Western geographic advantages while also demonstrating combined air operations refined in two decades of Middle East fighting.

These operations and exercises, then-NATO Commander Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti told Congress last Spring, were meant to "introduce operational unpredictability to our adversaries." The question is: at what cost? That is, are we provoking the very thing NATO hopes to avoida new Cold War? Or more concretely, in putting the two sides on a path where escalating military exercises and the intermingling of forces increases tensions while also providing more and more opportunities for miscalculation.

'100,000 Tons of International Diplomacy'

From the day former national security advisor John Bolton stepped to the microphone last May to announce that B-52 bombers and the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln were being rushed to the Middle East because of "troubling and escalatory indications and warnings" coming from Iran, Europe was already on pace to break all records regarding military activity.

The Lincoln was in the Mediterranean Sea and was operating with the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis, the first time two carrier strike groups had conducted dual operations in the Trump administration. On the day of Bolton's announcement, Lincoln-based F/A-18F Super Hornet fighters flew 700-mile bombing runs to targets in Romania. The next day, Super Hornets flew again, this time 1,000-mile missions from the Ionian Sea west of Greece and traversing Eastern Europe to Lithuania.

There, the Navy strike fighters worked with ground spotters to practice bombing, less than 500 miles from Moscow. "We are showing the world that we ... are prepared and capable of executing missions in our allies' airspace on short notice," said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Stephen Gay, coordinator of the exercise.

U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon M. Huntsman Jr. was on the Lincoln during the operation. "Each of the carriers operating in the Mediterranean at this time represent 100,000 tons of international diplomacy," the former Utah Governor said.

Finished with its mock bombing of Russia, the Lincoln canceled a scheduled port call in Croatia and set sail for the Persian Gulf. By the time it steamed south through the Suez Canal and around the Arabian Peninsula to take up station off the Iranian coast, no fewer than seven separate NATO war games were held: Arrow and Bold Quest in Finland, Spring Storm in Estonia, Formidable Shield off the coast of Scotland, Immediate Response in Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia, Stolen Cerberus VI in Greece, and Erciyes in Turkey. And in those two weeks, a dozen Florida-based F-16C fighters arrived in the United Kingdom and the newest F-35 Lightning II jets deployed from Utah to Northern Italy, the latter for the first time.

No European deployments were canceled or delayed because of Iran, according to a senior European Command official who was not authorized to speak on the record. And not only were U.S. aircraft operating close to Russian airspace. Starting in May, the air forces of nine different NATO nations deployed to forward bases in the Baltic states, Poland and Romania on "air policing" missions.

The exercises and deployments were taking place under an umbrella Pentagon program called the European Deterrence Initiative (EDI). Started after the Crimea crisis, EDI has built up a NATO ground presence in the three Baltic states and Poland, enhanced the air defense of the Baltics, southeastern Europe and Iceland, and accelerated air deployments from the United States under both "bomber assurance" and "theater security" programs.

Last March, the Trump administration requested $5.9 billion to fund EDI, a 10 percent reduction from the previous yearwhich some observers saw as a sign of Donald Trump's personal softness on Russia. Calling the Russian threat to Europe "real and growing," Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, the outgoing top officer for NATO, told Congress that he was "not comfortable yet with the deterrent posture" on the continent.

"We're looking at increased burden-sharing," Pentagon Deputy Comptroller Elaine A. McCusker told reporters, echoing the president's many statements that the rich European nations should contribute more towards their defense, lessening the American bill.

But the fine print showed that there was no real reduction. The cut was actually the result of completed construction and other "nonrecurring" costs that stabilized EDI at a steady level. And the amount dedicated to exercises and training more than doubled from the previous year, from $291 million to $609 million.

On December 4, after a marathon eight months in the Middle East, the USS Abraham Lincoln transited the Strait of Hormuz to return home. The Iran crisis was still brewing and would further escalate with the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani a month later. The crisis deployments Bolton had announced included a total of six bombers in two groups, both of which had come and gone. A battalion-sized Marine Corps force had also left the region. Emergency ground deployments totaled fewer than 10,000 troops, the majority in Patriot anti-air and missile defense units. Air Force aircraft had augmented the Lincoln's air wing on the scene. Three squadrons of F-15E Strike Eagles, F-35A Lightning IIs, and F-22 Raptors, constituted the totality of the anti-Iran movements.

During the same time, nine American squadrons of fighter aircraft deployed to Europe for anti-Russian war games, according to Pentagon documents. During the third week in June, when Iran shot down an American drone, exercise Anatolian Eagle was in full swing in Konya, Turkey. Though Turkey abuts Iran, the exercise, funded by the European Defense Initiative, had a wholly NATO European focus.

As two oil tankers were hit with limpet mines in the Persian Gulf, special operators from ten nations were skulking about as a part of exercise Trojan Footprint 19, one that took place across Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and in the Black Sea. In northern waters, Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) brought together 50 ships and 40 aircraft of 18 NATO nations, plus Sweden and Finland. A total of seven NATO war games were underway, including Iron Wolf in Lithuania; Dragon 19 in Poland; Swift response in Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania; and Strike Back and Saber Guardian in Bulgaria.

Overall, more than 50,000 NATO and allied military personnel were in action against Russia. U.S. Air Force F-35 fighters deployed to both Finland and Norway for the first time. Joining them were Louisiana-based B-52 bombers that had forward deployed to England and flew mock bombing runs against Russia simultaneously over the Baltic and Black Sea regions.

Heel to toe, exercise Dynamic Mongoose commenced in Norwegian Arctic waters with the completion of BALTOPS. Exercise Sea Breeze also got underway in the Black Sea to augment Dynamic Mongoose. While Ukraine was on everyone's lips in Washington because of House impeachment hearings, a total of 32 ships and 24 aircraft from 19 countries were operating in and around that Black Sea nation.

None of this took place without a Russian response. The very week of Bolton's Iran announcement, a Hungarian fighter operating in Lithuania intercepted a Russian Federation Air Force plane flying without a transponder signal. Russian sent its own bombers to fly along the western coast of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. At the end of May, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow was concerned about NATO's increased activities near its borders.

Russian news agency TASS reported that the number of Russian air intercepts had increased ten times over the past three years. Meanwhile, NATO scrambles had increased 300 percent, according to classified U.S. Air Force documents. When a Russian Su-24 Fencer fighter-bomber dangerously buzzed a Spanish Navy ship operating in the Baltic, NATO issued a vigorous protest.

As the May exercise season started, Air Force Gen. Tod Wolters took over command of NATO from Gen. Scaparrotti. One of his first orders of business was to sit down with the Russian Chief of General Staff, General Valery Gerasimov to discuss "deconfliction" of military activity. Wolters told reporters just days before the Spanish incident that American "deterrence" activity had tempered Russian behavior, that there had been a reduction in Russian "unprofessional behavior.

The two generals met again in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on July 10th for what were more sobering talks, according to military officers who were privy to the discussions. That same day, the Ukrainian Navy reported that a Russian destroyer intruded into the Sea Breeze restricted area during live-fire artillery drills, creating "an emergency situation." When NATO radioed the destroyer with a warning, according to a Ukrainian Navy's statement, the Russian ship "pretended to be experiencing communications problems." Russia's Black Sea fleet said Ukrainian claims were untrue. The Cold War was back.

Excerpt from:
Exclusive: While The Press And Public Focus On Iran, US Military Prepares For War With Russia - Newsweek

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Naps, salads, open dialogue and leading by example are great places to start, says a leading workplace wellness researcher

January30, 202011 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Over the past decade, wellness has ballooned into a $4.2 trillion business. In the crowded marketplace of self-improvement, hardcore health innovations jostle with softcore supplements in the jade egg domain. Meanwhile, hustle culture has spawned a kind of work worship that has many people burning out and questioning how much they should really expect to get from (or give to) their jobs. In the midst of all this, workplace wellness is on the rise; more than 80 percent of large companies and 50 percent of small companies have implemented such programs. Despite their pervasiveness, big questions linger over what, exactly, works.

Thats something that Dr. Ron Goetzel has devoted his career to studying. Goetzel is a senior scientist and director of the Institute for Health and Productivity Studies at Johns Hopkins, as well as VP of applied research for IBM Watson Health. He says the first idea worth considering is how we think about what works. Traditionally, the measurement for success has been return on investment (ROI), or what a company saves on lowered healthcare costs and reduced absenteeism given how much theyve invested in wellness initiatives. Goetzel does plenty of these analyses. Since 1994, hes run The Health Project, which gives a yearly award to companies with demonstrably effective wellness initiatives. He led a recent study showing that over a 14-year period, a portfolio of 26 of these companies significantly outperformed the S&P 500. The 26 companies that truly invested in wellness delivered a stock return of 325 percent, versus the S&P 500s 105 percent. Data suggests that wellness programs done right do, in fact, pay dividends.

Even so, Goetzel says that more and more researchers in his line of work are considering something called value on investment (VOI) over ROI. It's hard to put a dollar value on happiness and motivation, on attraction and retention of talent, he says. So a lot of companies are now thinking about value on investment. If theyre spending money, and keeping people healthy not just physically but mentally, socially, financially, intellectually, spiritually whats the value? Often the number one thing companies care about is engagement. You know, are people coming to work and loving their job, their coworkers, their boss? And ultimately, am I lowering health care costs?

Its notable that in America, 60 percent of people say their jobs are bad or mediocre, yet most do have a job (many people have more than one). Employment is at an all time low, but rates of suicide, depression and addiction are climbing. It stands to reason that if Americans are going to work, thats one place wellness initiatives can reach them. As Goetzel told CNBC last year, The younger workforce is beginning to ask for how their company is socially responsible, and this is one other element of that. How you treat the health of workers and the footprint in the community, and handprint on the community, has quite a bit of impact on reputation and consumer confidence, and it will become much more important.

So workplace wellness initiatives arent just hot air. But for an entrepreneur starting out, or a small business owner looking to scale, it can be difficult to know where to start. What, in the vast array of wellness offerings, is worth the expense? Dr. Goetzel offers some suggestions for thinking about how to integrate health and wellness into your business.

Offering health insurance is only the first step. Wellness initiatives that actually work dont conceptualize their plans as a program or classify a package of offerings and perks as distinct from the actual job. They view wellness as intrinsic to the company culture. You cant expect people to get healthy when you mandate unreasonable hours or excessive levels of output. You cant simply offer employees one-time health assessments and leave it at that. And you cant just pay for a health plan and direct employees to the website, to navigate on their own. Goetzel says that if you actually want healthy employees, you have to consider every aspect of their well-being: physical, emotional, intellectual, financial, social, spiritual. (He clarifies: Spiritual to some people means religion, but to others it means having a sense of purpose or mission in life and asking, Can all aspects of my life align with that mission?). Goetzel says its easiest to think of structuring wellness initiatives into three broad categories: policies, programs and environmental supports.

To create a comprehensive culture of health, policies function as guidelines, like flexible scheduling and parental leave, or feedback processes that give workers a sense of agency. Programs are optional perks like financial incentives for health goals or even classes (cooking, exercise, tech tutoring, etc.) and professional services offered (nutritionists, chronic disease specialists, financial advisors, etc.). And environment refers to the effort made by an employer to surround workers with healthy options: water versus soda, stairs versus elevators, natural light versus artificial light and so forth.

It starts at the top. Leadership commitment is the first step in taking a culture of wellness from theory to reality. And one of the biggest ways a boss can foster a healthy culture is by encouraging workers quality of life outside of work. If the leader is sending emails at 4:00 in the morning, saying, I need you to do this by 6:00 a.m., thats not good, Goetzel says. Whereas I know its true for me that when a boss walks around the office at 6pm and says, Hey everybody, 6:00 go home to your family, go home to your friends, get out of here. If you need to show up tomorrow morning bright and early to finish this, that's fine. Do your work. But right now it's your time. A boss who sets that kind of tone makes a difference.

Communication is absolutely essential in making sure that health initiatives are well-received and helping who theyre intended to help. For small businesses in particular, Goetzel recommends simply asking employees what they need. The first thing you want to do is get baseline data, he says. Figure out what you and your workers would like to know about. Is it how to prepare healthy meals? Is it how to get a good workout? Is it how to manage your stress, how to meditate? Do they want yoga sessions or do they want aerobic exercise? So before you even introduce a program, go around, talk to people individually, in groups, or even in surveys. Then that can be the foundation for: Here's what we heard from you. Here's how we're going to respond to that. And here are the steps we can take.

To that point, Goetzel advises not to stop communicating and evaluating, by whatever means you can. With small companies, quite honestly, they can't afford big studies. You know, we do a lot of very large studies for large companies. But just having qualitative data What do you think of the program? How satisfied are you with its offering? What would you change? Does it improve your morale? Does it improve your satisfaction working here? You know, if you had another job offer tomorrow, would you take it? Those kinds of questions, I think, are meaningful.

Environmental influences can have a sizeable impact on peoples moods and decisions. A healthy workplace is made up of lots of small choices. Obvious policies are things like no smoking, Goetzel says. But having healthy food choices in the cafeteria and at company gatherings in fact, making them less expensive than the unhealthy choices is really important. One company I went to had a salad bar sitting right at the entrance of their cafeteria, and it looked delicious. You want a hamburger or cheeseburger? Well, you've got to go to the grill and wait 30 minutes for them to prepare for you. Do you have cookies at the checkout counter or fresh apples? Is it easier to get a water than a Coke?

Giving people space and permission to move around is another of Goetzels suggestions. If you have an outdoor campus, walking trails are fantastic. If you only have indoor space, treadmills are great. If you have stairs, Goetzel recommends making them more attractive. Instead of having people go up and down elevators all day, open up some stairs and make them inviting with carpeting and paintings and music, he says.

Some of the most famous workplace environments are in Silicon Valley. But Goetzel says he doesnt usually point to the big tech companies as beacons of true corporate wellness because the point of the perks is often to keep people at work longer and thats a mentality we need to move away from.

I visited Google and, you know, it's like Disneyland, he said. It's paradise. They've got massages and fitness centers with classes going on all the time. Theyve got bicycle rides. They have free food, smoothies. But people also work their asses off largely because they're brilliant and they love doing it. But eventually it does burn them out.

Still, there is one buzzy workplace trend that Goetzel approves of: nap rooms. There are now large companies offering napping rooms or meditation rooms for their workers, and Im a big proponent. Taking a 30-minute break absolutely makes sense, especially in safety-sensitive occupations like medicine or transportation. But even for a stockbroker or a journalist, you know, a half hour break is probably going to boost your productivity. He reiterates, however, that sanctioning naps shouldnt be contingent on workers getting in at 6 a.m. and leaving at 9 p.m. You have to give people a sense of work-life balance.

Theres an endless variety of health services that you could offer to your employees to build a wellness culture. But Goetzel says you cant just cobble together a network of outside vendors e.g. lifestyle coaches, financial advisers, nurse lines, disability managers, conflict negotiation experts, workers compensation specialists and so on and then walk away. Disparate vendors can easily overlap in their services or fail to see the larger organizational problems at the root of the symptoms theyre treating.

If you decide to hire an all-inclusive health plan provider, make sure they bring the receipts. My advice would be to go to a player out there who has a track record, says Goetzel. Theyve been around, have good references. Can they actually show data that they've made a difference? They can have the most beautiful brochures, but that just means they have a great marketing department. If nobody's using your service and if nobody's actually getting any healthier, why bother?

Once youve chosen a provider, Goetzel says, thats just the beginning of the journey. For small companies, I would go to the health plan first, he says, but know that they're going to be, quite honestly, very superficial and transactional and they may not know what is needed for your particular company. You have to keep skin in the game. You can't just hand off to a vendor, whether it's a health plan or anybody else, and say, Make my people healthy. You cant say, Call me when you're done.

Go here to read the rest:
Workplace Wellness Isn't Just for Big Corporations. Here's How Small Businesses Can Build a Culture of Health. - Entrepreneur

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While there has been a significant decline in the mortality rate over the last few decades, and the smoking rate is at its lowest ever, the U.S. still struggles with high incidence of chronic health conditions.(Photo: mdgovpics / Flickr)

The United States is one of the richest and most developed countries in the world, and its spending on health care is by far the largest in the world. But, as it turns out, money doesnt always buy health. While there has been a significant decline in the mortality rate over the last few decades, and the smoking rate is at its lowest ever, the U.S. still struggles with high incidence of chronic health conditions.

24/7 Tempo examined the 20 healthiest states in America from the United Health Foundations 2019 Health Rankings report. It includes such factors as healthy behaviors, quality of health care, health policy, the presence of diseases, and deaths from illnesses across the nation.

Health varies considerably between states. The prevalence of diabetes has increased dramatically in the United States in recent years, going from 9.5% in 2012 to 10.9% in 2018. However, in the 20 healthiest states in the country, the rates of diabetes are less than the national rate of nearly 11% of adults. Also since 2012, obesity levels have increased from 27.8% to 30.9% of adults. Only four of the 20 healthiest states in America have a higher adult obesity rate than the national.

Healthy behaviors and lifestyles are also major contributors to good health. Just over 75% of Americans report regular physical activity. In only two of the 20 healthiest states, fewer people exercise regularly. But working out is just one way people can stay healthy. Nutrition plays a major, if not a more important, role and here are 29 healthy habits that will change your life.

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The cost of poor health can be measured in years of life. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) track premature deaths, as measured by the number of years lost when people do not live to age 75. In 2019, the CDC estimated that nearly 7,500 years were lost for every 100,000 Americans. This figure was lower in all of the 20 healthiest states.

Money is also a factor in determining health. The healthiest states are often among the nations wealthiest, and only two of the 20 healthiest states have a median household income under the national median in 2018. Not everybody has a job that pays six figures, but there are ways to make some extra money these are 18 hobbies you can actually make money on.

Iowa.(Photo: Nathan Masters / iStock)

20. Iowa

Premature death rate (per 100,000): 6,733 (16th lowest)

Adult obesity rate: 35.3% (7th highest)

Adult smoking rate: 16.6% (23rd highest)

Median household income: $59,955 (25th highest)

Iowa makes the list of healthiest states in the country based on a wide range of factors. Only 9.6% of the population reported 14 or more days of poor physical health in a month the second smallest share of all states compared to a national average of 12%.

The low uninsured rate in the state just 4.7% of Iowans do not have health insurance, the sixth smallest share in the country may also be a major factor. People without health insurance are more likely than those with insurance to delay going to the doctor or forgo taking care of their health altogether.

19. Wyoming

Premature death rate (per 100,000): 7,412 (23rd lowest)

Adult obesity rate: 29% (14th lowest)

Adult smoking rate: 18.8% (16th highest)

Median household income: $61,584 (20th highest)

Wyoming has one of the lowest rates of cancer-related deaths, the second leading cause of death in the United States after heart disease. There are 169.5 cancer deaths per 100,000 people in Wyoming, the sixth lowest rate in the country and way below the U.S. average of 189.3 per 100,000 people.

Diabetes, a disease that affects about a tenth of the U.S. population, is also relatively uncommon in Wyoming. An estimated 8.7% of adults in Wyoming have been diagnosed, the fifth lowest percentage in the country.

18. Maryland

Premature death rate (per 100,000): 7,689 (23rd highest)

Adult obesity rate: 30.9% (25th highest)

Adult smoking rate: 12.5% (5th lowest)

Median household income: $83,242 (the highest)

One factor contributing to Maryland's better-than-average health outcomes and behaviors may be income. The higher the income, the lower the likelihood of disease and premature death, as wealthier people can afford healthier diets and have more access to high-quality health care. Maryland has the highest median household income and the fourth lowest poverty rate in the country.

It also has a relatively small share of adults who drink excessively 14.6%, compared to a U.S. average of 18.2%. Over time, excessive drinking can lead to serious problems, such as hypertension, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, and digestive problems.

17. Nebraska

Premature death rate (per 100,000): 6,555 (11th lowest)

Adult obesity rate: 34.1% (15th highest)

Adult smoking rate: 16% (24th lowest)

Median household income: $59,566 (25th lowest)

Compared to the rest of the country, relatively few people in Nebraska report frequent mental or physical distress. Only 11.2% of the state's adult population reported 14 or more days of poor mental health in one month, the 10th smallest share in the country. There is a strong correlation between frequent mental distress and diagnosed mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety, according to the United Health Foundation. About 10.2% reported 14 or more days of poor physical health in one month, the sixth smallest share in the United States.

Nebraskans also have relatively healthy behaviors. For example, from 2015 to 2017 there were just 7.2 drug-related deaths per 100,000 residents a year, less than half the national rate and the lowest rate in the country.

16. Idaho

Premature death rate (per 100,000): 6,669 (15th lowest)

Adult obesity rate: 28.4% (12th lowest)

Adult smoking rate: 14.7% (16th lowest)

Median household income: $55,583 (15th lowest)

Idaho has a low rate of preventable hospitalizations, a measure that reflects how efficiently people use outpatient services as well as the overall quality of health care in a state. There are 32.3 preventable hospitalizations per 1,000 Medicare enrollees the fourth lowest rate compared to the national rate of 49.4 per 1,000. Public health funding may also play a role in Idaho's ranking among the healthiest states. The state spends an average of $150 per person on public health annually, the fourth largest amount, compared to a national average of $87 per person. The money is used to pay for programs promoting physical activity, healthy nutrition, and smoking prevention.

Virginia.(Photo: thinair28 / Getty Images)

15. Virginia

Premature death rate (per 100,000): 6,914 (20th lowest)

Adult obesity rate: 30.3% (22nd lowest)

Adult smoking rate: 14.9% (17th lowest)

Median household income: $72,577 (10th highest)

Virginia residents report some of the healthiest behaviors of any state. While nationwide 23.8% of U.S. adults do not exercise regularly, in Virginia just 22% of adults are inactive one of the smaller shares of any state. Similarly, just 14.9% of Virginia adults smoke, less than the 16.1% national smoking rate.

One factor contributing to Virginia's above-average health outcomes and behaviors may be income. It has the tenth highest median household income, at $72,577, compared to the U.S. median of $61,937. Also, 10.7% of households in Virginia earn more than $200,000 a year, the sixth largest share among all states.

14. North Dakota

Premature death rate (per 100,000): 6,914 (20th lowest)

Adult obesity rate: 35.1% (8th highest)

Adult smoking rate: 19.1% (12th highest)

Median household income: $63,837 (18th highest)

Even though North Dakota has the 12th highest adult smoking rate and the eighth highest obesity rate in the United States, fewer residents die from cancer and heart disease the two leading causes of death in the United States than in a majority of the country. The state has the 10th lowest rate of both cancer and cardiovascular deaths at 176.8 and 227.5 deaths per 100,000 people, respectively. By comparison, the national average is 189.3 cancer deaths and 260.4 heart disease deaths per 100,000 people.

The state also has a relatively small share of adults reporting frequent physical distress, a measure associated with chronic health conditions like diabetes and hypertension. Just 9.8% of adults in North Dakota report feeling in poor physical health for more than 14 days a month, the fifth smallest share of any state and far below the national rate of 12%.

13. Rhode Island

Premature death rate (per 100,000): 6,602 (13th lowest)

Adult obesity rate: 27.7% (11th lowest)

Adult smoking rate: 14.6% (15th lowest)

Median household income: $64,340 (17th highest)

Some 89.1% of adults in Rhode Island have at least a high school diploma, slightly above the 88.3% national high school attainment rate. Educational attainment is one of the strongest predictors of health outcomes. Nationwide, the share of adults with a diploma who say they are in optimal health is 27.6 percentage points higher than adults without a diploma. In Rhode Island, the difference is 31.5 percentage points.

The state has the highest immunization rates for various diseases, including human papillomavirus, the most common sexually transmitted infection; meningitis; and diphtheria, tetanus, and whooping cough (the Tdap vaccine). Most people in Rhode Island have health insurance, which may improve health outcomes as it allows for easier access to health care. Only 4.4% of the population lacks health insurance the fifth lowest percentage in the country and half the national figure.

12. California

Premature death rate (per 100,000): 5,665 (the lowest)

Adult obesity rate: 25.8% (5th lowest)

Adult smoking rate: 11.2% (2nd lowest)

Median household income: $75,277 (6th highest)

In California there are 5,665 premature deaths per 100,000 residents, the lowest rate in all of the United States. The cancer death rate in the Golden State is also among the lowest in the country 168.9 per 100,000 people, compared to the national rate of 189.3 per 100,000 people annually.

Californians also tend to have healthy habits. For example, only 21% of adults report no physical activity, the 10th lowest figure nationwide, and only 11.2% of adults say they are regular smokers, the second lowest rate in the country.

11. New York

Premature death rate (per 100,000): 5,830 (3rd lowest)

Adult obesity rate: 27.6% (9th lowest)

Adult smoking rate: 12.8% (6th lowest)

Median household income: $67,844 (14th highest)

New York has the third highest number of doctors per capita, which is one factor that helps it rank among the healthiest states. There are 230.7 primary care physicians per 100,000 people in the Empire State, compared to a rate of 159.6 doctors nationwide. According to the United Health Foundation, a large number of general practitioners in an area may lead to better health outcomes and reductions in health disparities across population subgroups.

New York ranks among the healthiest states also because of the amount of money it spends on public health. New York spends an average of $148 per person on public health annually, the fifth most of any state.

Colorado.(Photo: denverjeffrey / Flickr)

10. Colorado

Premature death rate (per 100,000): 6,288 (8th lowest)

Adult obesity rate: 22.9% (the lowest)

Adult smoking rate: 14.5% (14th lowest)

Median household income: $71,953 (11th highest)

Like many of the healthiest states, Colorado residents are among the wealthiest in the nation. A typical household income is almost $72,000 a year, more than in all but 10 states. In addition to higher incomes, more than 83% of Colorado residents exercise on a regular basis, the highest percentage in the country. This high rate of physical activity likely contributes to the state's low obesity rate. Just 22.9% of adult residents are obese, the lowest rate nationwide. The low obesity rate, in turn, likely helps keep down the prevalence of diabetes and cardiovascular disease in the state. There are an average of 207 cardiovascular deaths per 100,000 people in Colorado a year, the third lowest rate, and just 7% of the adult population has been diagnosed with diabetes, the smallest share nationwide.

9. Washington

Premature death rate (per 100,000): 6,094 (5th lowest)

Adult obesity rate: 28.7% (13th lowest)

Adult smoking rate: 12% (3rd lowest)

Median household income: $74,073 (9th highest)

People in Washington State tend to have healthy habits. Just 17.6% of adults say they do not exercise and only 12% report smoking on a regular basis, both of which are the third smallest such shares in the country.

Washington also has a relatively low preventable hospitalization rate, an indication of effective utilization of outpatient services and the overall quality of health care in the state. There are only 32.7 preventable hospitalizations per 1,000 Medicare enrollees, the fifth lowest rate in the country. Healthy lifestyle choices and access to quality health care may contribute to the state's low rate of heart disease deaths. There are just 222.4 cardiovascular deaths per 100,000 people annually, the sixth lowest rate in the United States.

8. New Jersey

Premature death rate (per 100,000): 6,329 (9th lowest)

Adult obesity rate: 25.6% (3rd lowest)

Adult smoking rate: 13.1% (7th lowest)

Median household income: $81,740 (2nd highest)

New Jersey ranks among the healthiest states because of several behavioral factors, including low rates of excessive drinking, adult obesity, and smoking. Wealth, which allows for access to higher quality health care and other components of a healthy lifestyle, may also help explain the state's high ranking. Just 9.5% of New Jersey residents live below the poverty line, the fifth lowest poverty rate of any state and well below the 13.1% national figure. The Garden State also has the second highest median household income close to $82,000 a year, or about $20,000 more than the U.S. median.

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How healthy is your state? These are the 20 states that rank as the healthiest in the US - USA TODAY

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THROUGH the summer months we have had, hot firestorms have been destroying everything in their path.

Our wildlife have been hit hard and some animals are heading towards the extinction list.

This is hard to grasp.

While Queensland has probably not suffered the worst, like our southern cousins, our wildlife hospitals have been working overtime and the world has been touched by the plights of our animal friends.

Seth McFarlane, creator of TV animated comedy Family Guy, donated $1 million to the Australia Zoo Animal Hospital.

If you would like to volunteer your time, it would be appreciated. Call 5441 6200.

Zonta Blackall Range

ZONTA Blackall Range members have started the year off on a productive note.

With monthly meetings, the club discusses ways members can make a positive difference in womens lives around the Sunshine Coast.

This month the Zontarians have remembered pilot Amelia Earhart, who died while flying, as an early member of the New York Buffalo Zontas.

If you have any ideas or projects that may need some input from professional people, get in touch with the Zonta women.

Also keep an eye out for the club signs when you are around the hinterland and know what they stand for. It means someone will advocate for you if you are in need.

If you would like to find out more about the Blackall Range Zonta Group, email public relations at julie@edenlodge.com.au

Refugee network

BRASS the Brisbane Refugee and Asylum Seeker Network meets today, January 31, from 10am to noon at Justice Place in Abingdon St, Woolloongabba.

If you have any information to share, send it through to Brass.comms@gmail.com

If you have a community interest in the Refugee Alternatives Conference, get in touch with conference@refugeecouncil.org.au

There will be events throughout the year starting with a conference at Queensland University of Technology, discussing topics surrounding refugees joining our communities.

If you are a community member who feels there is something you can contribute to this group, get in touch.

Garden tour

YANDINA Community Gardens is hosting a garden tour tomorrow, February 1.

Head along and check out the many plants, trees and work being done.

Visit http://www.yandinacommunitygardens.com.au for more information.

Country dance

JOIN in the Scottish Country Dance at Maleny Presbyterian Church on February 10 from 7pm.

Supper will be provided.

Turn up and have a go: the first time is free to try.

Head along with or without a partner.

Heart health

THE Heart Foundation has recognised that it has been a rough start to the year for many.

Here are some tips to help you get off to a great 2020:

The Sunshine Coast Council has kicked off exercise programs this week. Look at the council website for details.

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Our wildlife need a helping hand - Sunshine Coast Daily

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Stress, distraction, unhealthy use of technology and rising rates of mental illness life is increasingly tough for teenagers today, and educating them is a challenge at best.

But researchers at UC Santa Barbara have found success in a new program to address those four themes, which stand out as struggles for the majority of high school students in the United States.

A new, evidence-based, online course that provides students with personalized attention training is being developed at the Center for Mindfulness & Human Potential (CMHP), part of the universitys Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. The course teaches students to focus their minds and manage their emotions so they can succeed academically.

Twenty-five high schools around the country are currently using the course.

We are quite encouraged by the enthusiasm that our program has received from both students and teachers. We are also heartened by preliminary findings of benefits for students who participate in the program, said Jonathan Schooler, CMHP director and a professor of psychology.

In one study, published in the journal Education Sciences, the researchers surveyed 190 high school students before and after they completed the 22-day course. They found that students improved their ability to manage stress and regulate emotions. The study also revealed that students came to view their ability to focus as a trainable skill, and they felt more motivated and confident to train this ability. We found that among the 82% of students who initially reported paying attention in class less than they felt they should, classroom focus significantly improved following our intervention, Schooler said.

Teachers everywhere are reporting that its increasingly hard to get students to actually pay attention, noted Michael Mrazek, CMHP research director. Weve interviewed more than 200 high school teachers and principals over the last two years to understand their biggest challenges as well as their perspective about current challenges for teens. Theres a palpable sense of concern around increasing distraction, stress and mental illness. Individually, those are each distinct and important problems. Yet a lot of research has shown that mindfulness-based attention training is an elegant solution that can help address each of those issues. Thats why were so excited about finding the most effective way to bring this training into high school settings.

The project is primarily funded by a development and innovation grant from the Institute of Education Sciences, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education. The goal of the grant is to use empirical research to iteratively refine a digital course that can ultimately scale to provide evidence-based training to millions of high school students in the United States. The online course includes not only four 12-minute lessons and daily 4-minute exercises for students, but also a teacher interface that makes it easy for teachers to enroll students and monitor their progress.

We deliberately designed this resource so that teachers dont need to become topic experts to be able to share attention training with their students, Mrazek said. When a teacher creates an account, they get access to facilitator training as well as their own personalized 22-day course. Time is a precious resource for teachers, so the course is largely plug-and-play.

Music plays an important role in most of the daily exercises. As Alissa Mrazek, a senior postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Psychology and Brain Sciences, explained, the researchers have partnered with dozens of famous musicians to create training exercises for students. Students learn to focus their attention by listening deeply to music that is personalized to their preferred genre. We ask students to try to keep their attention focused on the sounds they hear, she explained. Then when distractions arise, as they inevitably do, its an opportunity to practice letting go of that distraction and coming back to the music.

Keeping the students engaged in the lessons is critical but also challenging, noted Michael Mrazek. Were constantly striving to use all of the best practices from educational psychology that optimize learning, and to implement them in fast-paced videos that resonate with a teenage audience, he said. Its a delicate balance, and its forced us to develop a unique style that can both captivate and educate.

I was skeptical initially, just because I thought that pairing a digital format with mindfulness is kind of antithetical, that digital programs are really one of the largest distractions for our teens, said Gabriel Villegas, a teacher at Central Coast New Tech High School in Nipomo, which uses the course. The program soon won him over. I tried it with some of our students, and they loved the music options that were chosen and they loved the lessons.

In Santa Barbara, San Marcos High School teacher Jeffrey Bailey is also a fan. The feedback that I got from the students was that they felt, especially when they had a stressful day, the program helped them to recalibrate and refocus, as well as to be able to notice their emotions a little bit more without judging themselves.

Each exercise is designed to help students achieve a mental state of calm and focus. What weve heard from students and seen in some of our data is that these 4-minute exercises give students an immediate way to relax, Alissa Mrazek said. Weve also had teachers say that when they start class with an exercise, students are suddenly more present and receptive to learning because theyve let go of some of the anxiety that they had before class.

The exercises help you relax in the moment, she continued, but they also train underlying skills that can be used to regulate your focus anytime you start getting worked up about something.

The program is designed to be a tier-one universal intervention that can teach preventative techniques to every single student in a high school, Alissa Mrazek said. All students experience stress and emotional challenges, and they all need access to evidence-based tools that help them understand and care for their own minds.

Noted Villegas, I think there is a movement in schools to be teaching the whole child, kind of a more holistic style instead of just academics. Were realizing that hasnt worked very well with all of the anxiety, depression and suicide rates.

But how would training your focus improve your mental health? Most people think about attention in terms of how long you can concentrate, but its much more than that, Michael Mrazek explained. Attention is a fundamental cognitive capacity that works like a spotlight, influencing what you actually experience in any given moment. If you train that fundamental skill, it not only allows you to focus better on a test but also gives you much more influence over how you relate to your entire inner world.

I'm so excited about this project, he continued. What were trying to accomplish is very challenging, but all of my life I wanted to do something that really makes a difference in the world. When we were awarded this grant it was the first time I felt like we had a genuine opportunity to do it.

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Surviving the era of unlimited distraction - University of California

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Recent generations of the Apple Watch have worked to bridge the gap between sophisticated workout detection and the GymKit application. While the company is expanding into the fitness world, Apples new program will further incorporate the Apple Watch into the gym experience. This is a move that shows their ambitions to move further into the health sector. Apple Watch Connected offers incentives like credits towards membership costs to those who track their exercise. These gyms are committed to offering iOS and Apple Watch and launching a reward program called Earn with Watch. The company hopes that this program will entice users to use the watch to meet their fitness goals.

Launching a new membership that allows members to earn gift cards from Apple, Nike, and other brands. Orangetheory hopes this will bring new customers in. According to MoneyPug, a site used to find mobile phone deals, Basecamp is rolling out a new kind of membership that allows members to earn back the cost of an Apple Watch, the price is initially built into the membership by attending three classes a week. The YMCA allows you to learn earn donations to fund community programs. Finally, Crunch lets you earn money to put toward your monthly membership.

This app allows you to track your statistics, see what classes the gym offers. Basically the app tracks how much you work out and provides the information to you through the app, which you then show to the gym. Anyone who can join the program for free as long as the gym offers specific perks to the members, the GymKit allows your Apple Watch to receive more accurate data on your indoor workouts by syncing them with Bluetooth.

It is designed to bridge the gap between working out in the gym and outside of the gym. Those who participate in the program dont actually have to work out in the gym, any form of exercise will gain rewards toward your goals. The gym partners are launching on a small scale before offering it to more locations. Some are offering these incentives at specific locations before expanding to their other locations.

Apple has emerged as the leader in the fitness industry with wearable technology according to the International Data Corporation reports that Apple held the position in terms of market share toward the end of 2019. The launch of the Apple Watch Connected shows that the companys strategy has gradually become one of the most important products as revenue from its wearable technologies. Although it likely wont have a major impact on Apples sales, its smartwatch users utilize the fitness incentives are an effort to undermine their competitors. It gives Apple a way to boost its services.

Using the Apple Watch to motivate you to exercise is a good way to not just get you in the gym but to work out more in general. This is not just for the perks that gyms will offer you, the program offers a way to track your progress and see your statistics. This alone will motivate and inspire you to exercise more. Whether you are extremely fit or need to lose a lot of weight, Apple offers a way to see how many calories you are burning.

With the Apple Watch Connected program, the company hopes to beat out the competition and entice new users with their fitness apps and capabilities. It can be a great way to motivate yourself to exercise and make it fun.

Read more from the original source:
Apple Launches Apple Watch Connected Where Gyms Offer Incentives - TechShout!

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Photo: Entrepreneur Network

How to Biohack Your Brain and Boost Your Business

Alisa Vitti believes it's time women start using their biological rhythm to their advantage. She says, "The myth that we're hormonal, or that our hormones are a liability, is part of an old, misogynistic narrative that isn't actually based on the scientific facts."

Shesays most women are in tune with their monthly menstrual cycle, but they might not know there is asecond monthly clock called the infradian rhythm, which she explains is just as important as the daily circadian rhythm for maintaining our health. "Ignoring our infradian clock actually makes us sick, overwhelmed, and tired," she adds. "Most research in health and fitness is actually done on MEN and is not appropriate for women. For example, if you do HIIT interval training at the wrong time, you actually trigger fat storage. Most diets that work well for men dont work over the long-term for women because our metabolism changes twice per month!"

Vitti has dedicated her life's work to understanding how the female body operates, educating women about their hormones anddisrupting menstrual healthcare.A pioneer of female biohacking and founder of the period-positive platform @floliving, Vitti has released her latest book,In the FLO. She says, "This book shows us how mainstream health plans, self-care routines, fitness regimens, and time management schedules, and even the power morning concept, are all founded on a system that only optimizes male biology, and leaves out the specialized and cyclical needs of women."

Related:How to Biohack Your Brain and Boost Your BusinessHow This Entrepreneur Overcame Depression When Self-Help Didn't WorkThe Entrepreneur's Diet for Success and Brain-Boosting Performance

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How to Biohack Your Brain and Boost Your Business - New Haven Register

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The longer The Biggest Loser went on, though, the harder it was to maintain this position. Though participants were reportedly forbidden from talking to reporters without the shows permission (and were warned about potential fines of up to $1 million if they broke the rules), news began to eke out about what happened behind the scenes. In 2007, the Season 3 contestant Kai Hibbard spoke out about the tactics shed used to shed weight before the finale, which included eating only sugar-free Jell-O and asparagus (a diuretic) for days at a time, and sitting in a sauna for prolonged periods to sweat out more water. In 2014, after the Season 15 winner, Rachel Frederickson, weighed in at an emaciated 105 pounds, a visibly shocked Michaels quit for the third time, with People reporting that she was deeply concerned that attention wasnt being paid to the contestants health. In 2016, Biggest Loser alums told The New York Post that they were given diet pills on the show, sparking an internal NBC investigation. (Producers, doctors, and trainers on the series denied all allegations.) Most damning of all was a wide-ranging National Institutes of Health study published the same year, which revealed not only that the majority of former contestants had regained the weight theyd lost, but that their extreme dieting had also permanently damaged their metabolism.

Read: Can television destroy diet culture?

Even after so much scrutiny, The Biggest Loser wasnt officially canceled by NBC in 2016. It just never came back. And, in the four years it was off the air, a lot changed. Weight Watchers pivoted to wellness, supposedly rebranding itself away from the hard focus of numbers on a scale and toward more general encouragement of health and well-being. Consumers became more skeptical of diet culture, and more cognizant of the societal factors that lead to obesity. TV also adjusted to the times. Dietland and Shrill premiered, deftly dissecting fatphobia and the self-hatred that products like The Biggest Loser subliminally encourage. As if to illustrate how anachronistic the NBC show seems now, Michaelswhose unfiltered, unflinching style was historically a big part of her appealwas broadly denounced for fat-shaming this month after making comments about Lizzos weight on a BuzzFeed show.

And yet, despite everything, The Biggest Loser has shuffled, zombielike, back to prime time, with a new season debuting this week. USA Network, the sister network to NBC where the show has found a new home, announced last year that in its new incarnation the series was going to offer a holistic, 360-degree look at wellness. In a panel at the Television Critics Association conference in January, Harper (now serving as the shows host) and two new trainers insisted that this time around, things would be differentthat the focus would be on health rather than weight. Which is both a funny comment about a series whose final 20 minutes still revolve around mass weigh-ins optimized for peak drama in a TV studio, and, it turns out, completely untrue.

Go here to read the rest:
The Retrograde Shame of The Biggest Loser - The Atlantic

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We all need more vegetables in our life, but including them in our core three meals is easier said than done. As it turns out plant-based diets actually work the best when an individual drafts their own guidelines around unique health needs and objectives.

A plan that encourages plant-based meals while allowing room for animal products on occasion is alternatively known as the Flexitarian diet.

Helping Ladders navigate the specifics of an optimal Flexitarian diet is the expertise ofSergeyYoung, founder of the Longevity Vision Fund.

For years Young has dedicated his assets, network connections and global research community toward developing affordable and scientifically proven wellness habits. His self-professed mission is to fund the next phase in the longevity revolution.

In Youngs estimation, the first step begins with debunking the falsehoods keeping too many people from breaking away from their toxic dietary habits.

Young explains to Ladders, You dont need to stick to a vegan or vegetarian diet to reap the health benefits. Focusing on getting the majority of your calories from plant foods without excluding animal products completely will have a positive impact on your health. Some nutrients like EPA and DHA are best obtained from fish, seafood, and eggs.

According to the latest U.S. News & World Report Best Diet Rankings, the regimen Young intimates above is one of the healthiest and easiest to follow of all the many plans currently circulating the diet sphere.

Lowering your intake of processed meats will dramatically improve cognition, reduce your risk for developingType 2 diabetesandheart disease, help regulate weight gain and boost longevity as a consequence of the previously mentioned attributes.

More than the rich sources of energy and protein provided by lean meats like chicken and omega-3 rich sources like fish, allowing room in any regimen for foods you enjoy makes any plan that much more sustainable over time.

With a Flexitarian diet youre getting the macro-nutrients you need from organic sources most of the time but when you want to have maybe a piece of grass-fed steak or even just a piece of steak at a restaurant, or you want to have eggs, you can. It allows room for these other kinds of food without being so hardcore, dietitian Keri Glassman recently told Ladders.

One of the critiques lobed at plant-based diets the most often claims that it isnt plausible to get the majority of the daily calories needed from plants. While its true that even the most balanced plant-based regimens are not as calorically dense as other plans, this isnt necessarily a bad thing.

Young continues, Habits common among areas where people live the longest include a reduced calorie intake and fasting and a25-year study in monkeysfound that eating 30% fewer calories than normal led to a significantly longer life and less age-related diseases. Even if your calorie requirements are higher, youre still able to get enough from other calorie-dense foods like sweet potatoes, nuts, and oils.

Of course, calorie intake is much more about where youre getting your calories than it is about how many calories youre consuming day to day. Protein is the nutrient most often lamented by those skeptical of taking on a plant based diet.

Although not as packed with amino acids, proteins obtained from plants actually contain more nutrients and fiber than protein derived from animal sources.

Tofu (contains about 10 g of protein per cup), lentils (cooked contains 8.84 g of protein per cup) and chickpeas(7.25 g per cup) all on their own sufficiently fuel vegan bodybuildersa group with a protein demand significantly higher than yours and mine.

Make no mistake, its not enough to limit meat intake and increase plant consumption in order to boost longevity. the source matters a great deal. Variety is key to any diet plan.

Local, farm-grown and organic produce nurtured without the use of pesticides, manmade fertilizers or genetic modifications is more nutritious than non-organic commercial foods, Young informed Ladders. Superfoods like maca, spirulina, goji berry, etc. might be marketed as nutritional powerhouses but food variety is even more important than its nutritional density. Its important to make sure you eat a full rainbow of fruits and vegetables for a balanced and varied diet.

Longevity is bolstered by a panoply of physiological factors: optimal brain health, metabolicregulation, weight management, cellular vascular health, cardiovascularhealth, and emotional stability. Every one of these requires balance, especially when it comes to our diet.

Although there arent many studies that have been done on this topic,there appears to be a link showingthat plant-based diets can influence brain function positivity through altered microbial status and systematic metabolic alterations. However, despite the positive effect of plant-based diets on brain health, there is a risk of these diets creating a deficiency in the essential brain nutrient cholinewhich is why some proportion of eggs and other animal-based products must still be kept in your diet, said Young.

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Longevity expert says these are the foods you must eat to add years to your life - Ladders

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If you're looking to cut down on carbs or just want a fun way to eat more veggies, then it's probably time you invest in a spiralizer. A spiralizer will turn your fresh veggies into faux noodles (you know: zoodles). But you can spiralize way more than just zucchini.

Spiralizer Ultimate Vegetable Slicer

$29.97

The Spiralizer Ultimate Vegetable Slicer has seven blades that make it capable of spiralizing anything from beets to bell peppers. You can swap out the blade to customize the noodles you're prepping, whether you want a finer angel-hair like shred or something a little curlier to make fries with.

This spiralizer also comes with four recipe e-books, so that you'll never run out of veggie-inspired meals to make.

The product has over 4,500 reviews, but people couldn't stop mentioning how this spiralizer's been a game-changer for their diets.

This customer on the keto diet said the tool helped her flex her cooking skills.

Another reviewer mentioned how the machine helped him keep up with his vegetarian lifetstyle.

"As a vegetarian many of my calories come from veggies (or at least they should :)), but they get fairly dull to eat in their original form or diced. By putting them into noodles seems to really do the trick when it comes to making them even better!"

Other people raved about how much fun they had using the machine, including this customer who compared the spiralizer to a pencil sharpener.

"Spiralizing hard items such as sweet potatoes and zucchinis are an ease. In fact, it's so easy that my 3 and 6-year-old can do it. The only thing I can compare it too is that is has the same motion as a mounted pencil sharpener, but has less friction and hesitance. It feels more like the motion of turning the pencil sharpener when there is no pencil in it."

If you want to upgrade your kitchen counter space, the spiralizer's available on Amazon for $29.97. Go ahead and live your best spira-life.

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This Keto-Diet Approved Spiralizer Has Over 4,500 Positive Reviews on Amazon - Women's Health

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