As part of Airdrie and Area Health Co-operative’s (AAHC) investigation into the compatibility of Blue Zones Project in the city, Blue Zone co-founder Tony Buettner spoke to a packed house May 14 at Apple Creek Golf Course.
Blue Zones started as a research project, looking into why residents of some communities lived longer, healthier lives than others. Buettner’s brother, Dan, completed the research that was originally published in National Geographic in November 2005 as The Secrets of Living Longer.
“…The average Canadian spends the last 10 years of their life fighting a chronic disease, a chronic disease that is preventable,” he said, adding participants in the project could get five good years back. “This isn’t about government telling you what to do, this is about choice. The paradigm shift here is moving from behavioural strategies like diets and gym memberships – things that people try and 95 per cent of us fail – this is about your environment, lifestyle, the design of spaces.
“A Blue Zones community is differentiated from any other community around by strong collaboration. Before a decision is made at the government level or organizational level or individual level, the first thought is, ‘Is this good for the well-being of my community, my organization or for me?’”
Blue Zones has applied its best practices to more than 40 locations in the United States. This is the first time the concept has been considered in Canada, according to Buettner.
“We’re very excited for the opportunity to go outside the borders. We’ve had probably 300 individual cities and organizations outside of the U.S. invite us,” he said.
“There’s going to have to be some innovations here and that’s what excites us.”
Blue Zones uses what it calls the Power 9 principles to encourage healthier lifestyles. These include having a sense of purpose, consuming more fruits and vegetables, putting loved ones first and keeping what it calls the “right tribe” around them – people who help to inspire and encourage. The principles are all things Blue Zones found to be common to the communities with the healthiest and longest-living residents.
In the communities in the U.S. which have implemented Blue Zones, Buettner said there have been double-digit drops in obesity, smoking and body mass index, and millions of dollars of savings in healthcare costs.
Implementing the Blue Zones philosophy, he said, requires buy in from businesses such as restaurants and grocery stores, which would provide healthy check-out lane items or menu choices. Workplaces would encourage the lifestyle by providing a benefit to those who walk or bike to work, or volunteer in the community.
“You’d see people living purposefully, waking up every morning knowing why they’re getting up and what they’re going to do,” he said. “You’d see people supporting each other in their health challenges to be successful.”
Buettner was in Airdrie through May 17, conducting a number of focus groups with interested residents. According to Mark Seland, AAHC media relations, Blue Zones will now spend a month or so preparing an evaluation of the readiness of Airdrie to be a Blue Zones community and provide suggestions for how the concept could be implemented here.
More information about Blue Zones is available at bluezones.com
