By: Cristina N. Hyde, JD
“Chronic diseases are not part of your DNA; they are part of your dinner.” – New York City Mayor, Eric Adams
Last month, the New York City Mayor held a press conference with the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) where he announced a $44,000,000 initiative to offer foundational lifestyle medicine training to 200,000 NYC health care professionals. According to the Mayor, the goal of the program is to build a stronger, more sustainable, and more equitable healthcare system that will change the trajectory of citizens’ health, improve the health of the community, and reduce the monetary burden placed on the City’s healthcare system by chronic disease.
Referred to as “noncommunicable diseases” by the World Health Organization, it is estimated that chronic illness kills 41 million people each year. The CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion states that 6 out of every 10 adults in the United States has a chronic disease. Yet, to date, few medical schools provide nutrition education as part of their training, despite existing science-based evidence that lifestyle medicine can address up to 80% of chronic diseases.
Therefore, the free CME program offered by the ACLM will introduce lifestyle medicine to healthcare workers throughout NYC; expanding the available clinical skills needed to combat chronic disease through preventative medicine. The course will include a general introduction to lifestyle medicine as well as training in “food as medicine” and training about nutrition as it relates to prevention, longevity, and risk reduction.
In addition to its unparalleled investment into and partnership with NYC, the ACLM is also currently working with health systems nationwide to integrate lifestyle medical education and clinical programs into communities. You can learn more about their effort and available educational resources and programs, here.
If you are a health care professional who is interested in learning more about adding a lifestyle medicine component to your current medical practice or beginning a new chapter in lifestyle medicine, Campanella Law Office can help.