The revealing WSJ piece “Checking Up on the Doctor: What Patients Can Learn From the Ways Physicians Take Care of Themselves” revealed not much, at all.
And that’s really sad. Because although doctors smoke only 10% as much as the general public, we are just as obese, more stressed and by many accounts, not as happy.
Doctors who take care of themselves medically are taking some big risks, as AMA/ACP policies show. Our group’s ground-breaking research in this area showed ICU care, lung operations and psychotherapy, none of which are a good idea, IMO.
But holding doctors’ eating behavior up to the bright light of Biggest Loser scrutiny is a recipe for change. And it’s about time.
Because research on Meals at Medical Specialty Conferences shows soda at every snack, and dessert at every meal, no nutritional guidelines cited, and no MD involvement with meeting planners. Even the AMA says so.
Of course, it’s possible to create amazingly good and healthful meals: CIGNA did for its Top 100 clients, and we’ve published easy, cost-neutral ideas for the best foods for breaks, in the meetings literature. So people are just starting to get interested.
Here’s a typical medical meeting meal description, with a healthy alternative. Salud!