A global analysis of past studies (aggregating data on more than 1.1 million people) found that the connection between fitness/regular exercise and mental health is extremely strong. Those in the lowest third of fitness levels were 75 percent more likely to have received a diagnosis of depression than those in the top third.
Workplace Wellness is now a Strategic Priority in the U.S.
A wellness issue to watch is workplace wellness. In the U.S., workplace wellness programs have become a strategic priority. A recent survey reports that 35 percent of U.S. employers have come to the conclusion that such programs are effective at controlling health costs, compared with 22 percent saying the same about disease management and 20 percent about consumer-driven health plan design.
Mental Wellness Initiative Launches at GWI
The Global Wellness Institute has just launched an important new initiative on mental wellness. Its goal is to understand those pathways that help people thrive mentally as well as physically. This initiative will have a strong focus on collecting and communicating the clinical evidence for a wide range of mental, nutritional, and physical modalities that support lifelong growth of mental wellbeing and happiness, creativity and inner peace.
Must-Reads from the Wellness World (Week of November 22, 2016)
Dalai Lama: Behind Our Anxiety, the Fear of Being Unneeded
The New York Times, November 4, 2016
This op-ed addresses the central question of our time: why, when there has never been a better time to be alive, is there so much anger and discontent? The Dalai Lama and the NYT editorialist explain that this is due to the fact that “we all need to be needed.” The problem in the world’s richest nations is not a lack of material riches, but the growing number of people who feel they are “no longer useful, no longer needed, no longer one with their societies.”
GWI Releases New Data on the Wellness Tourism Market
This week, the GWI released new data on the wellness tourism market from its in-depth “Global Wellness Economy” report that will be available in early 2017. The numbers were presented in London yesterday at the World Travel Market, who tapped the GWI to create the program for this year’s Wellness Travel Symposium. Check out the topics and speakers here
Global wellness tourism revenues grew 14 percent in the last two years – more than twice as fast as overall tourism. But what’s growing faster: international or domestic wellness travel? Primary or secondary wellness trips? What are the top 10 nations for wellness travel? Click here to find out
New Study: Too Little Sleep Leads to Overeating
A new meta-review of 11 sleep studies found that after a night of too little sleep (around four hours), people, on average, consumed 385 extra calories the next day – and they also consumed more fat and less protein.
