Paula & Al on Today Show (source: The Atlantic)

The big news this morning is Southern food maven Paula Deen’s announcement on the Today Show that she has type 2 diabetes. She’s had it for a while, apparently, and now she’s also come out as a spokesperson for a diabetes drug.

The media and everywhere online have been giving her a lot of flack about it. Some even go as far as to insinuate that she somehow deserves it given all the “un-healthy” food she promotes.

I feel bad for her. Truthfully, I enjoy watching her show! Some of her recipes, especially the extreme ones like the cheesburger on Krispy Kreme donut leave that queasy, sick feeling in my throat just watching it, but hey, it’s amusing in a morbid kind of way. That’s why I watch it. It’s like all you rubber neckers who clog up the highways whenever there’s a wreck. We all slow down to take a look even if it makes us cringe. Admit it.

I liked watching Paula Deen because she seemed to genuinely love food. Relished it! You can see it in her body. At least she’s not matchstick skinny and pretending to enjoy all the rich, calorie laden food she cooks. You can tell the woman eats what she cooks! No crime in that.

I do, however, don’t agree with this new venture she’s going into as a paid spokesperson for the diabetes drug company. She will also be promoting ways to manage diabetes through healthier diet and exercise on a website sponsored by the drug company. It’s all and good, I suppose. Maybe someone will see it, take heed and make a difference in their lifestyle.

Personally though, I would probably have had more respect for Paula if she had just told everyone to “Kiss my grits!”
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There is no better gift than the gift of good health for any occasion. With Father’s Day coming up, however, it is even more pertinent that we give the special Dad’s in our lives something that most of them take for granted, and that is their own health. They worry about us, take care of us, make sure that we have everything we need, but when it comes to the most important thing in their life, their health, they tend to put that in the back burner.

“Did you know that new research has found that men are 31 percent less likely than women to have visited a doctor within the past year? In fact, men report making fewer routine health care appointments compared with women (56.5 percent vs. 73.8 percent).”

National Men’s Health Week is on June 14 – 20 and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Ad Council are launching a new movement on behalf of their national public service advertising campaign designed to encourage middle-age men to learn which preventive medical tests they need to get and when to get them.

Make sure that when you show your appreciation to dad this year, include a gentle nudge to get him to go to the doctor. It may be the greatest gift you can give him and may keep him around longer.

Here are a few things you can do to give that nudge:

• Send this new e-card for Father’s Day from: http://www.dadtothedoc.org to remind the men you love about the importance of protecting his health this Father’s Day
• Ask your husbands, fathers, brothers, etc. to take the health quiz: http://www.ahrq.gov/healthymen/quiz.htm
• Encourage the men you know to visit ahrq.gov/healthymen, which provides recommended ages for preventive medical tests, a health care quiz designed to test knowledge of preventive health care, tips for talking with doctors, a glossary of consumer health terms, and links to online resources to find more medical information. Also, keep an eye out for the new PSA’s encouraging dad’s to take care of their health.

This post was created for the Global Influence Network Father’s Day Campaign.