Today at Migros: stairs are going down, customers are standing. A wide variety of autumn sweets in the entrance area, welcome to the gingerbread house. In front of the cash register for the kids, a little nap in between. Two free servings of Multivit after payment – to make up for it. This sums up the problem very well: too little exercise, poor diet, too much stress, and then dust instead of healthy habits.
But that’s exactly what it’s all about: Diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s, rheumatism, cardiovascular disease, etc. Nearly all of our expensive bobos are lifestyle diseases. We are no longer human. Whether it causes this or that disease can be determined genetically. But that doesn’t help. The decisive factor is that we can significantly reduce the risk of all these diseases with a healthier lifestyle.
Those who inform themselves get premium discount
Health insurance company CSS is now trying to apply this knowledge with its health app Active365. Anyone who moves 210 minutes a week and takes 70,000 steps, meditates for 60 minutes, gets 15 minutes of health information and gets regular check-ups will be rewarded with a premium discount of CHF 600.
The similar “Complete Health Promotion Programme,” launched nearly 25 years ago and recently renamed Pivio, shows that it can make a difference. With relatively few courses spanning about five weeks, significant, long-term improvements in lifestyle can be achieved. Currently, one of 41 related studies shows a nearly 2,000 increase in average daily steps and a clear improvement in eating habits toward lower calorie density: 15 percent to 50 percent more vegetables, fruits, and dietary fiber, fewer calories overall.
10,000 steps a day reduces risk of dementia
This has an effect. For example, in a group with heart problems, bad LDL cholesterol decreased by an average of 37 percent in one year, angina pectoris attacks by 90 percent, and carotid artery narrowing – and therefore the risk of stroke – decreased by an average of 37 percent. decreased during pregnancy and increased significantly in the control group. At Pivio, the boost in motivation comes from initial successes shared in the group, not money saved.
The Active365 implementation could also trigger a surge with initial success: All other health insurance companies would have to deal with the lifestyles of the people incurring the costs. Who offers the best program? The facts are well known: 10,000 steps a day cuts the risk of dementia in half, and for people over 50, 1,000 units of vitamin D reduces the number of cancer deaths in Germany by 30,000 a year. 4,000 to 8,000 units not only halve the risk of cancer, but also diabetes and MS. Now it’s about the application.
Needs connection with local health activists
What is needed is not cancer and Alzheimer’s researchers and their expensive drugs, but behavioral psychologists who know how to lead people to live healthier lives. In addition to digital applications, an analog and native addition is probably required. General practitioners, fitness clubs, health food stores, gym clubs, schools, etc. Even the major distributors have not yet exhausted their options with the free distribution of vitamin tablets.
But apps remain a key element. Digitization enables success to be tracked. In a few years we will learn better which measure works and how it works. By comparison, the usual cost-saving programs are peanuts.