Here’s to our good health

 1 comment(s)  
 E-mail Story
 Print Story
  Share

 digg it!
 Facebook
 del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit

Text Size: 

Tools Sponsor

Some Lincoln-area residents professed surprise upon learning that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranked their community as the healthiest in the nation on the basis of self-reported results on a national survey.

Self-delusion is more like it, was one snarky response.

Hey, don’t be so quick to poke fun.

[+]Enlarge

Joey Wright, 7, leads the way down the Holmes Lake Dam Trail with his father, Marshall, and dog Curly close behind in September 2007. (LJS File)

Joey Wright, 7, leads the way down the Holmes Lake Dam Trail with his father, Marshall, and dog Curly close behind in September 2007. (LJS File)

This is a time to go with the flow. There’s plenty of scientific evidence to show that if you think you are healthy, you’ll actually feel healthier.

Brain-imaging provides clinical evidence of the power of positive thinking, revealing that a placebo will activate the same regions of the brain as an actual pain-killer.

The survey of 712 people in Lancaster and Seward counties revealed that 92.8 percent rated their health as good, very good or excellent, according to the CDC.

If self-esteem is healthy, well then, our community is well ahead of the game.

Compare those findings with those of Huntington, W. Va., where only 68.8 percent of residents reported their health was good or better.

It surely can’t be coincidence that Lincoln is probably the only community of its size in the country that can boast a near $50 million foundation devoted to making the Lincoln area “the healthiest community in the nation.”

The Community Health Endowment established with proceeds from the sale of Lincoln General Hospital this year observed its 10-year anniversary. Just last week the endowment announced that it will make $1.4 million in earnings available next year for programs that can improve health in the community.

The money has been used for all sorts of worthwhile purposes, such as helping low-income residents apply for free medication and helping residents avoid unnecessary repeat visits to emergency rooms.

It also should be noted that the perception of health reported by area residents was backed up by their other responses. Local respondents reported they exercised more, smoked less, weighed less and had fewer cases of diabetes than the national averages.

The upshot is that we ought to take respondents at their word. Sure, the information they relayed to the CDC is self-reported, but it should still be a source of hometown pride.

It’s just too bad that Lincoln didn’t get its fair share of national fame. Early media reports using 2006 data mistakenly identified Burlington, Vt., as the healthiest city in the country. By the time the error was discovered, the national spotlight had moved on.

Oh well. If the road to good health included spending time on the area’s scenic trails, which are among the most extensive in the country, residents can honestly say they enjoyed the journey. Doing well is its own reward. There’s always next year.