WHAT'S YOUR BMI?

As I walk along the upstairs hallway of my apartment building, wheeling my bike to my door after the refreshing ride home, the indescribable smell of cooking chicken coming from my neighbor’s apartment is overwhelmingly pleasant and makes me daydream about when I ate meals with meat and fowl.  For quite a few years now, my main source of protein has been raw nuts and seeds, an occasional egg, infrequent slices of Swiss cheese and some soy.  I’ve enjoyed trying the traditional foods like caribou, muktuk, whale heart and seal oil since moving to Barrow, sometimes to excess, but eat them rarely now for the most part.  I enjoy salmon infrequently too when available, but am most drawn to the large bowl of pecans, almonds and walnuts sitting on my counter top and the bag of hemp hearts in my refrigerator door. 

It’s not that I don’t like meat and poultry, but years ago I experienced an episode of adverse health that seemed to be linked to malabsorption of nutrients, leaving me feeling unable to function because of extreme fatigue and incapacitating numbness in my left arm.  The physicians I went to found my condition puzzling and were unable to say what might be causing my symptoms.  The verse, “ask and you shall receive” is so simple and practical.  I’ve sometimes overlooked the power contained in these few words, but took them to heart in this situation and asked in prayer for answers that might lead me to good health again.    

The answer I received came in the form of several books that suggested fruit and vegetable juicing, eliminating grains and processed sugars, eating all fruits and vegetables in their raw form and keeping one’s digestive tract clean.  Since then, although with a few lapses, I’ve incorporated all of these practices into my life and have felt stronger and healthier with more mental and emotional clarity and a richer spiritual life than before.  I still seem to need to take nutritional supplements, so don’t miss a day of taking them.  I think Shaklee is the best, based on their scientific research and published studies and also Juice Plus, based on the same.  I’ve discovered and created some very good recipes using fruits, vegetables, nuts, chia, flax, hemp and sesame seeds, flax, coconut and sesame oil, sea salt and cinnamon.  Jalapeno peppers are a given in every vegetable juice and dish.  My diet feels so diverse and rich and eating and sharing with others is more enjoyable than ever.  I know that all of these things are also helping to prevent maladies like digestive challenges, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and early aging. 

I'm not suggesting that other people adopt the diet the works for me.  Although we all share a similar physiology, I think each person has different factors that affect the ability to digest and use the foods consumed.  I think there are some valuable guidelines that can improve each of our health, am glad to have found something specifically that has improved mine and am wishing you all the same.   

Many of the clients I see are overweight and about 5% are obese.  Since the introduction of white flour into the Inupiaq diet, weight gain, disease and dental caries have all increased dramatically where virtually none existed before according to archaeological evidence. 

Part of my job is to offer education around reducing risk factors for the above mentioned diseases.  One of the risk factors is a high BMI, so at the beginning of each visit, I measure each person’s height and weight and then calculate their BMI or body mass index, the relationship between height and weight.  You can calculate yours by using:  weight / height / height X 703.  A BMI of 19 - 24 is normal, 25 - 29 is overweight, 30 - 39 is obese and 40 - 54 is extremely obese.  

I’m always impressed at how open people are to talking about lifestyle choices that can help reduce their BMI and other risks and improve overall health.  I was concerned that there might be some defensiveness when talking about weight, but have found just the opposite.   We use handouts from the Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Foundation and teach about the daily 5-2-1-0 program:  5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables, 2 or less hours of recreational screen time, 1 or more hour of physical activity, 0 sugary drinks, more water and low-fat milk.  The handouts are colorful, encourage people to set personal goals for health and to feel empowered.  Here's one link to the resources we use.

http://www.letsgo.org/

There are many directions one can take in nursing.  I’m finding myself thinking more and more that public health is a perfect fit for me.  I love learning and talking with others about nutrition, I’m able to have uninterrupted and meaningful conversations with the clients I see and have the potential to impact them in a positive and life-changing way.  I remember how difficult it was and how hopeless I felt at times when doing my nursing school clinicals in several hospitals in Seattle.   Nurses there have a large load of patients and most often, inadequate time with each one, some who are suffering and dying from preventable diseases.  Their conditions seemed either acutely devastating or chronically hopeless and families were always affected in negative ways.

I hope the work that public health nurses and others who teach about nutrition are doing all over the world is helping to increase the quality of life and the longevity of the people in the communities they serve.  I hope too that it is reducing the patient load of nurses working in acute care settings, allowing them to focus their energies on conditions not related to lifestyle choices, knowing that their would-be clients are out there enjoying getting healthy exercise and are conscious of every bite of food they are taking in, wanting to live healthy and fulfilling lives.