The Personal is Political: Why Preventative Health Policies Matter

Editor’s Note: Rebecca Portman is interning with the American Heart Association Chicago office this semester. She is a student at Northwestern University who started her internship with us at the beginning of the year. Her responsibilities include contributing weekly to this blog. Please enjoy her latest post.

The Personal is Political: Why Preventative Health Policies Matter


When I left home for Northwestern in the fall of 2009, I saw college as an opportunity to figure out what I really cared about and wanted to devote my time to. I had chosen to major in Social Policy, but I had little idea of what that really meant or what type of policy I was interested in working on.

On a personal level, as freshman year began I struggled to find balance in my life. I felt the need to make friends, establish myself as a future leader in a student group (or two or three), and do well in classes. I had retired from my career as a competitive ice hockey player, and the lure of all-you-can-eat buffet style dining halls and Friday night “hot cookie bar” began to take a toll on my health.

I wish I could say there was a life-changing moment when I realized my mistakes and decided to take control of my health once and for all. But in reality, my fitness awakening happened sporadically. It has taken two and a half years of trying and failing and trying again at making healthy eating and exercise consistent for me to ultimately find a place of balance, moderation, and comfort with my health. I’ve come to realize that my personal wellbeing will always be a work in progress. In the process, however, fitness has become not just a priority, but also a passion.

Here’s where things get complicated: not everyone wants to spend as much time as I do reading about antioxidants or making complex workout plans. Most people don’t want to count calories, can’t afford a personal trainer or expensive gym membership, and couldn’t tell the difference between healthy and unhealthy fats. As I tried to lead a healthy lifestyle, it became more and more apparent that by doing so, I was actually going against the accepted norm—not just of stereotypical pizza-eating, beer-drinking college students, but of the majority of Americans. Our national holidays celebrate overeating, our supermarkets are filled with processed, sugary food products, and our national pastime is watching television. It is no wonder that 33% of American adults are obese (28% of Illinoisans), when poor health has become so embedded in our culture. Temptation is everywhere -- even here at the AHA!

It struck me: if it is so difficult for me to resist temptation and take good care of myself, how much harder must it be for other people with real responsibilities, financial difficulties or pre-existing health conditions? I struggle to stay healthy despite having the luxuries of abundant free time, access to an upscale gym facility on campus, and did I mention I live next door to a Whole Foods Market? So how can I possibly expect a single mother or father who works two jobs to overcome the monumental obstacles that stand in the way of good health?

Suddenly I had an answer to the looming question of what type of policy I wanted to work on. My seemingly personal problem was part of a greater societal ill, and I could do something about it not just for me but for everyone who has struggled to live a healthy lifestyle, if I worked to implement policies that promote good health and prevent obesity. I’m not suggesting that everyone needs to eat a perfect diet or have six-pack abs. But in order to improve individual health on a grand-scale, we have to implement policies that bring us closer to being a society where fitness and nutrition receive positive and frequent reinforcement.

In the past two weeks, I have been excited to see just how much the Illinois Health Strategies team is doing to bring about the kind of healthy environment I would like to see one day. I helped to prepare a fact sheet to bolster the AHA’s efforts to eliminate waivers exempting schools from the statewide mandate for Physical Education in Illinois. I watched AHA volunteer Sandy Noel share her enthusiasm for health as a newly appointed chair of the Governor’s Council on Health and Physical Fitness. I assisted in the planning of two events that will bring members of Chicagoland Latino and African American communities together to learn about nutrition and get screened for health risks. As I have gotten settled in at the office, I have found it extremely rewarding to be able to do substantive work that I know is going towards a cause I believe in, and to spend time on something that matters to me—both personally and politically.