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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Jul 1.
Published in final edited form as: Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2015 Jun 2;1347(1):1–28. doi: 10.1111/nyas.12778

Table 3.

“Health by a thousand cures”

Home and neighborhood (healthy habits)
Anthropometry

  • Tape measures, strings (abdominal circumference; height)

  • Scales over the life cycle, from < 1 year to severely obese adult.

  • Publicly available weighing stations

    • Public schools (before or after school)

    • Post offices

    • Pharmacies

    • All medical facilities

    • Restaurants

Energy balance

  • Step counters (pedometer; accelerometer)

  • Food scales used daily by all

  • Eating rate (timer, minimum for meal, use of chopsticks)

  • Caregiver limitation of children’s food choices (e.g., fructose, trans-fats)

  • Lower room temperature (during cool season)

Sleep

  • Curfew—entrain “morningness;” enable AM studying time

  • Sleep timer (minimum duration)

  • Sleeping bag

  • Sound-proofed (inaudible TV) “cocoon room” (space station bunk-bed model)

Ecosystem targets (possible policies)
Food providers

  • Clearly marked calories and food categories in supermarkets and restaurants

  • Calorie-marked shelves

  • Structure and design displays (e.g., height) and sections (content)

  • Play rooms in supermarkets

Schools

  • Preschool programs including PA

  • School breakfast and lunch with supervision and education K–8

    • Posted calories and food categories

    • Flatware and portion sizes—use of chopsticks

    • Mandated meal duration—requirement pre-break

  • Mandated break with exercise postmeal

  • Age-adapted school days (later starts for grades 9–12)

  • Health-related curricula (fetal rights; food choices, metabolic fitness, pregnancy risks)

  • Physicians and nurses incorporated into curricula and fitness monitoring

    • Long-acting contraceptives, preconception counseling, breast feeding

Departments of Health

  • Diagnose food insecurity and need

  • Assess microbiomes

  • Attract equitable funding for subsidies regardless of source (partnerships)

  • Improve disbursement of subsidies, e.g., distribute food subsidies evenly over time (shorter intervals than biweekly)

  • Monitor effectiveness

  • Provide safe neighborhoods enabling physical activity

Medical practice

  • Prevention model

  • Contraception and preconception services

  • C-section vs. earlier induction

  • Limit antibiotic use