The power of the mind
Thursday, January 17, 2008 by Dave Winer.
I heard a report on NPR a couple of weeks ago, and thought it was very interesting. 
A study of a group hotel maids found that even though they lead active lives, get lots of exercise, their health isn't good. High blood pressure, overweight, body-mass index, the usual signs of a sedentary life.
They interviewed them, asking if they were active -- no. Did they get exercise? No. (The correct answer was yes to both.)
So they formed two groups, with one group they did nothing, with the other they had a series of classes where they showed them how doing maid work compared to other forms of exercise. The kept going until they understood that they were active and living a healhty lifestyle.
A few months later they checked blood pressure, weight, BMI and amazingly the group they had educated had become healthy!
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