Research shows individual health choices directly influence the health and
well-being of friends and family
INDIANAPOLIS, June 29 /PRNewswire/ -- WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE: WLP), the
nation's largest health benefits company by medical membership, today
announced it has teamed up with Bob Harper from "The Biggest Loser" to expand
current efforts to provide the tools and information necessary to help
individuals improve their health and be a positive influence on the ones they
care about. Through this collaboration, WellPoint and Bob Harper will work
together to highlight how our health connects us and how one person's healthy
behaviors can positively affect someone else's health behaviors.
"WellPoint is pleased to work with Bob Harper to create a movement that
starts with each individual and extends to their friends, family and
coworkers," said Dijuana Lewis, president and chief executive officer of
WellPoint's Comprehensive Health Solutions business unit. "Bob Harper's
approach to wellness is based on the powerful insight that healthy living
isn't about a quick fix, it's about making a lifestyle change. We recognize
that our health is connected with, and part of, our everyday lives. We want to
help people get healthy, stay healthy and have a healthy impact on the health
care system itself."
"Whether we realize it or not, when we are around others who eat healthy
and model healthy behaviors, we begin to follow," said Bob Harper. "Expanding
this into a more formal, conscious effort can help each of us become role
models for others in our lives. For any person who's ever tried to quit
smoking, lose weight, eat healthier or adopt a more active lifestyle, knowing
you will also have an impact on others can be a powerful motivator. By working
together with WellPoint, we hope to provide the information and tools to help
millions across the country live healthy lives."
According to a recent report* released by the WellPoint Institute of
Health Care Knowledge, an individual's health choices directly influence the
health and well-being of family members, friends and others in his or her
social network. The report looked at two specific studies by Harvard's
Nicholas Christakis, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., and the University of California,
San Diego's James Fowler, Ph.D., about communities in which individuals with
close ties demonstrated significant corollaries with obesity and smoking
cessation. The studies cited in the report show that a person's:
- Likelihood to quit smoking increased by 67 percent if her or his
spouse quit smoking; 36 percent if a friend quit smoking; 24 percent
if a coworker quit smoking; and 25 percent if a sibling quit smoking.
- Chance of becoming obese increased by 57 percent if that person's
close friend became obese. Further, a person's chance of becoming
obese rose by 71 percent if a close friend of the same sex became
obese; 40 percent if an adult sibling became obese; and 37 percent if
his or her spouse became obese.
WellPoint has developed an innovative tool to help individuals calculate
the impact their behaviors have on their health and on the health of their
social network. By answering a few simple questions, individuals can receive a
score and calculate that impact with tools available on WellPoint's affiliated
health plan Web sites.
*For more information on the WellPoint Institute of Health Care Knowledge
or a copy of the full report, please visit www.wellpoint.com/institute.
About WellPoint, Inc.
WellPoint works to simplify the connection between Health, Care and Value.
We help to improve the health of our communities, deliver better care to
members, and provide greater value to our customers and shareholders.
WellPoint is the nation's largest health benefits company, with approximately
35 million members in its affiliated health plans. As an independent licensee
of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, WellPoint serves members as the
Blue Cross licensee for California; the Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensee
for Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri
(excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City area), Nevada, New Hampshire, New
York (as the Blue Cross Blue Shield licensee in 10 New York City metropolitan
and surrounding counties and as the Blue Cross or Blue Cross Blue Shield
licensee in selected upstate counties only), Ohio, Virginia (excluding the
Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.), Wisconsin; and through
UniCare. Additional information about WellPoint is available at
www.wellpoint.com.
SOURCE: WellPoint, Inc.
CONTACT: Media, Jill Becher, +1-262-523-4764, Jill.becher@wellpoint.com;
or Kristin Binns, +1-917-697-7802,
Kristin.binns@wellpoint.com
Web Site: http://www.wellpoint.com
