Lot of gray areas around
city and WVU Blue Zone
Morgantown and WVU are considering spending money on The Blue Zone Project. Is that a good idea?
The so-called Blue Zone Project is about wellness. Wellness has become an $8 billion-a-year industry, and it is being paid for by insurance companies that are getting the money for these programs by increasing the premiums of the insurance they sell. And, frankly, the promised benefits are not materializing.
JAMA (Journal of American Medicine) reported that the first large-scale, randomized clinical study by the University of Chicago and Harvard found that the programs “don’t improve health metrics, don’t result in a significant reduction of healthcare spending or utilization of healthcare services.” Other studies show that these programs do not reduce health care costs or reduce absenteeism among employees.
So employers are abandoning the wellness craze, and the industry is turning to governments to advance these very lucrative products. And I believe that we should be skeptical of the Blue Zone Project in particular since it is a project of National Geographic magazine. And National Geographic magazine is owned by Rupert Murdoch.
The approaches seem paltry: Walking trails and a no-smoking campaign? Encouraging the consumption of more fruits and veggies? Since air pollution has been found to be more damaging than smoking, will WVU be shutting down its coal burning power plant in the middle of town?
Of course, there is evidence that one of the best ways to reduce smoking is increasing taxes on tobacco, and we don’t need to spend a bunch of money to do that. Are we going to limit processed foods? They are being recognized as more dangerous than expected.
And just one more thing … since the city is paying the wife of a Morgantown City Council member to coordinate this, he will be recusing himself from any discussions or decisions because that would be a conflict of interest, right?
Jane Menear
Arthurdale
