Let’s try five simple questions to see what you know about health and wellness. Just note your answers first and then scroll down…

  1. High blood pressure usually causes headaches.
  2. Most overweight or obese people are overweight because of genetic or hereditary factors they have no control over.
  3. The success rate for quitting smoking is over 50%.
  4. Less than 1% of people are problem alcohol drinkers.
  5. Highly effective and productive people have usually trained themselves to sleep less than 5 hours a day.

Now, let’s take a look at the answers:                           

  1. High blood pressure usually causes headaches.

FALSE. High blood pressure very rarely causes headaches. High blood pressure is known as the “silent killer” because it usually causes NO symptoms at all. This is why regular check-ups are worthwhile (you cannot manage what you do not know about and cannot measure)

  1. Most overweight or obese people are overweight because of genetic or hereditary factors they have no control over.

FALSE. Most overweight and or obese people overeat and under-exercise. There are complexities (e.g. repeated crash diets will lead to a stubborn metabolism that makes weight control more difficult) but as a generalisation it is food that makes us fat. Let us say this though: our understanding is incomplete and there may yet be new research that lets us understand more about weight control. But for now and certainly for most people, we need to acknowledge this. In addition, let us note that this is no excuse for fat-shaming, which is a cruel and unhelpful behaviour.

  1. The success rate for quitting smoking is over 50%.

FALSE. Quitting smoking is tough. Success rates range between about 15% (cold turkey no aids) and 40% (planned, supported by medication and or help groups and or nicotine replacement etc.). the vast majority of successful quitters have tried multiple times in the past (unsuccessfully). Smoking may well be one of the very most damaging habits. Quitting is a great idea for any smoker. But it is not easy.

  1. Less than 1% of people are problem alcohol drinkers.

FALSE. This is the one wellness question that is almost always avoided or answered dishonestly. All wellness programmes worldwide know this. When proper research is done (with detailed questioning, peer and family reporting, blood testing) it seems that some 10-30% of people drink excessively, binge drink, or have an alcohol problem of some sort. When men drink more than 21 drinks a week, and when women drink more than 14 drinks a week, there is a problem.

  1. Highly effective and productive people have usually trained themselves to sleep less than 5 hours a day.

FALSE. This is one of the great modern myths. The simple truth is that we all need some 7-9 hours’ sleep a day, to function optimally in terms of productivity, energy, and happiness. We can get by with les for short periods when we need to (e.g. exams, deadlines, soldiers, etc.) but this is “coping because we must” and it is not “living well and optimally”.

So there are some quiz questions. Perhaps more a “debunking of myths” but hopefully you have learned something here today.

Written By Dr Colin Burns