On the road to wellness: lawmakers want Americans to eat better, stop smoking, exercise and relax.

• Author: Winterfeld, Amy

Dave Barry was kidding, but he was way ahead of the curve in 1985, when he advised everyone to "stay fit and healthy until you're dead." U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt, however, was dead serious when he said, in October 2006, that he wants to make Americans healthier.

"Emphasis on the four pillars of the HealthierUS initiative--physical activity, good diet, healthy choices and preventive screening--is crucial for the nation's health," says Leavitt. "Changing the culture from one of treating sickness to staying healthy calls for small steps and good choices to be made each and every day. [The department's] physical activity guidelines will encourage the creation of a culture of wellness across America."

The California governor's plan for health care reform, announced last month, also gives a nod to wellness, leading off with a proposed Healthy Action Rewards/Incentives program for both publicly and privately insured Californians. It would provide incentives such as gym memberships, weight management programs and reductions in health insurance premiums to promote prevention, wellness and healthy lifestyles.

It's no wonder that Leavitt and other policymakers want to encourage Americans to adopt healthy habits and stay well. Treatment for chronic diseases accounts for 75 percent of what the country spends on health care each year. Rates continue to rise for one of the leading precursors to chronic disease, obesity. An estimated 66 million Americans are overweight or obese. More than 60 percent of American adults do not get enough physical activity, and 25 percent are not active at all.

Another 44.5 million U.S. adults continue to smoke cigarettes, even though this will result in death or disability for half of them.

Treatment for the consequences of these unhealthy behaviors is improving. But it costs--a lot. Preventing diseases and promoting good health for everyone can help control these costs. Making healthy food choices more available, designing environments to encourage physical activity, offering incentives for healthy behaviors and encouraging preventive screenings are strategies that work at lowering costs.

"We have a finite amount of resources to spend on health care," says Hawaii Representative Josh Green, an ER doctor who chairs the House Health Committee. "The only way to afford the things we must have is to focus on preventive health measures and screening. We'll always need trauma centers like the one where I work, but that means we need to be smart about other health costs."

STARTING YOUNG

During the past 30 years, obesity rates have more than quadrupled for children ages 6 to 11 and more than tripled for young people 12 to 19. Many lawmakers are enacting wellness policies for schools, where 98 percent of 5- to 17-year-olds can be found on any given school day in the United States.

Beginning this fall, federal law requires school districts participating in federally funded school meals programs--nearly every school district in the country--to establish a local wellness policy that includes goals for physical activity. School meals must meet...