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What is theAdventist Health Message?Fred Hardinge, DrPH, RDAssociate Health DirectorGeneral Conference of SDA1It is more than a set of scientificallyestablished health practices that prolongand preserve life.It is profoundly more important than itscomponent parts of balanced nutrition,exercise or rest, etc.The “health message” when connected withscripture and the God of Scripture canrestore the dead to life.It can do far more than modern science hasdiscovered.If we confine any part of the health messageonly to its scientifically validated facts, wehave short-changed our audience of theeternal health benefits that ONLY come fromJesus.23Leading Causes of DeathPhysical Activity“The human body may be compared tonicely adjusted machinery, which needscare to keep it in running order. One partshould not be subjected to constant wearand pressure, while another part is rustingfrom inaction. While the mind is taxed, themuscles also should have their proportionof exercise.”.-- Signs of Times, 1886, No. 33.U.S. 2004TobaccoPoor diet & Physical InactivityAlcoholInfectious agentsToxic agentsMotor vehicleFirearms“They should go out and exercise everyday.” 2T 931Sexual behaviorIllicit drugs0125000250000JAMA 291(10) 1243456375000500000
Fitness &Hypertension RiskDeath Rates by Fitness Level2135 Age-grouped Men12096Crude death rate/1000 PY1.0Low FitnessMedium FitnessHigh Fitness7.00.96Low FitnessMedium FitnessHigh 0060-6970-7980 0.0p 0.0176.0Low FitnessMedium FitnessHigh .AmJEpidemiology2006;163:142- ‐150Blair & Wei, Am J Health Promotion 2000, 15:1-8Diabetes incidence/1000 men12024Fitness &Type 2 Diabetes Risk8Barlow,CEetal.AmJEpidemiology2006;163:142- ‐1509What is the most frequentreason given for not beingmore physically active?LACK of TIME101112
Healthy Behaviors andCardiovascular DiseaseExcess Disability &Lifestyle ChoicesHealthy Behaviors & Cancer6.072%0.60.40.2024%26%Low Fruits &VegetablesSmokingLow PhysicalActivityMortality, CVD (RR)0.8HealthyBehaviors4.5 Nonsmoker PhysicallyacIve3.0 Notaheavydrinker1.5 r of Good Health BehaviorsPLOS Medicine 2008; 5(1):39-47BMJ 2013;347:f4240, 201313Scientific DietaryRecommendations Lower cholesterol and saturated fat intake Increase fiber in the diet Increase use of complex carbohydrates Lower animal fat intake Consume more phytochemicals in the diet Get more antioxidant nutrients Eat adequate amounts of the essential fatty acids Avoid too much protein16Mortality, Cancer (RR)4.0n 20,244; 11-yr studyn 20,244; 11 yr studyHealthyBehaviors Nonsmoker3.0 PhysicallyacIve Notaheavy2.0drinker mber of Good Health BehaviorsPLOS Medicine 2008; 5(1):39-4714Vegetarian Dietary AdvantagesLower heart diseaseLower cancer ratesLower diabetesLess obesityLess hypertensionLess dementiaLess osteoporosisLonger life expectancy!1715Dietary Guidelines“Use plant foods as the foundation of yourmeals. Eating a variety of grains(especially whole-grains), fruits andvegetables is the basis of healthy eating.”18
SDA Church Position“The diet God ordained in the Garden ofEden--the vegetarian diet--is the ideal, butsometimes we cannot have the ideal. Inthose circumstances, in any givensituation or locale, those who wish to stayin optimum health will eat the best foodthat they can obtain.”“Those foods should be chosen that bestsupply the elements needed for building upthe body. In this choice, appetite is not asafe guide. Through wrong habits of eating,the appetite has become perverted. Often itdemands food that impairs health andcauses weakness instead of strength. Wecannot safely be guided by the customs ofsociety.” MH 295“Grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetablesconstitute the diet chosen for us by ourCreator. These foods, prepared in assimple and natural a manner as possible,are the most healthful and nourishing. Theyimpart a strength, a power of endurance,and a vigor of intellect that are not affordedby a more complex and stimulating diet”.MH 2962021Seventh-day Adventists Believe.Church Working Policy“We don't make the health reform an ironbedstead, cutting people off or stretchingthem out to fit it. One person cannot be astandard for everybody else. What wewant is a little sprinkling of good commonsense. Don't be extremists. If you err, itwould be better to err on the side of thepeople than on the side where you cannotreach them.” 1SAT 12The “Geriatric Curve”Functional Capacity19High-Risk Lifestyle:smoking, inactivity, obesityBirthSDA Working Policy, Health Ministries, p. 303AgeNEJM 338:1035-1041, 1998222324Death
“Squaring Off” LifeAgeFunctional CapacityFunctional CapacityLow-Risk Lifestyle:active, non-smoker,healthy weightBirthOur Mission“Squaring Off” LifeDeathNEJM 338:1035-1041, 1998If the Seventh-day Adventist health message is in anydegree separated from the gospel message it will loseits power and effectiveness.Low-Risk LifestyleHigh-Risk LifestyleIf a person attends a health program in a Seventh-dayAdventist church, understands and applies theprinciples, they will have gained a few years of life.ImpairedSurvivalAgeBirthDeathIf they did not learn that the power to change comesfrom Jesus, then the church has failed in its missionto the community.NEJM 338:1035-1041, 1998NEJM 338:1035-1041, 199825Jesus is the Life Giver26What is the Real Problem?27The Real Answer is JESUSPoor food choices?Ephesians 2:4-7Lack of exercise?This message is not to be separated from the gospelmessage.Today’s most skillful and perceptive scientist cannotbring the dead to life.Anxiety or depression?Too much television?Weak experience with God?High fructose corn syrup?Too much wheat?GM foods?2829But God, who is rich in mercy, because ofHis great love with which He loved us,even when we were DEAD in trespasses,made us alive together with Christ (bygrace you have been saved), and raised usup together, and made us sit together inthe heavenly places in Christ Jesus.30
The Real Answer to HealthProblems is JesusJesus is the Life GiverJesus Christ is the center and core of theGospelOnly the Gospel actually brings the dead tolife and the health message expands theGospel and brings life more abundantly.Jesus Christ should be the center andcore of all Health EvangelismJesus is the life giver and He is the healthgiver.3132God Works Miracles Today!“To arouse those spiritually dead, to createnew tastes, new motives, requires as greatan outlay of power as to raise one fromphysical death our Deliverer is able to dothis; for He came to destroy the works ofthe enemy.” RH March 12, 190133
General Conference of SDA 1 It is more than a set of scientifically established health practices that prolong and preserve life. It is profoundly more important than its component parts of balanced nutrition, exercise or rest, etc. It can do far more than modern science has discovered. 2 The "health message" when connected with
