Smoking, obesity why US lifespans lag a bit...

[devilgrrl]

The U.S. spends more on health care than any other nation yet has worse life expectancy than many — and a new report blames smoking and obesity.

And that about sums it up folks.... quit smoking and lose weight... and all of the nation's health problems are solved.... :eyes: A NEW study says so!

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/01/25/national/w090128S47.DTL#ixzz1C4LSozha

[Jackpine Radical]

1. Both smoking and obesity are correlated with poverty.

Smoking is a sort of low-grade, self-administered antidepressant treatment (produces endorphins), and just think macaroni & cheese. Cheap food is high-calorie food.

Smoking & obesity are two of many "intervening variables" that link poverty with a shortened lifespan.

[Kalyke]

2. Obesity - maybe, but smoking? Hardly.

Our European friends smoke like fiends, but live longer than we do.

Of course, they also have universal access to healthcare, more vacation time, shorter work days, less poisoned food and they walk more often.

[RobinA]

3. When I Worked

for a multinational corp and we had company-wide conferences the Europeans (and Australians) were always the ones outside the conference area smoking. So much for that theory. Or maybe they had healthy cigarettes over there?

[Kalyke]

4. I know.

The last time I was in England was just after they banned smoking in all buildings. The local pubs didn't seem to have noticed that ban.

[Deep13]

5. It's all cumulative.

A population of 15% or so smokers added to 40% overweight, little exercise, too much stress, bad food and intermittant health care access is a recipe for disaster. They smoke more in Europe and Auz, but they don't have the other problems anywhere near the same degree.

[DBoon]

10. and Japan has a higher smoking rate among men

"Among Americans, smoking rates shrunk by nearly half in three decades (from the mid-1960s to mid-1990s), falling to 23% of adults by 1997. In the developing world, tobacco consumption is rising by 3.4% per year.

...

About 51% of men smoke in Japan - this figure has dropped from the 1980s, but it is still very high for a developed nation."

http://www.wpro.who.int/media_centre/fact_sheets/fs_20020528.htm

Despite this, Japan has the highest lifespan of the industrialized world

[Hannah Bell]

6. what a lie. people in several longer-lived countries smoke more than here.

and/or are about as fat.

[hobbit709]

7. spending more on healthcare doesn't necessarily mean better healthcare.

Ask the over 50 million without any healthcare. that might have more to do with it than smoking and obesity.

[old mark]

8. K&R- See? It's OUR fault all along!...nt

[CoffeeCat]

9. I think our food is killing us...

When I go into the grocery store, I literally feel as if I have to take the road less traveled and search
for foods that won't kill me. Stores are full of processed crap that has no nutrition, tons of preservatives
and is soaked with high-fructose corn syrup, partially-hydrogenated fats and loads of other chemicals.

I usually shop for two hours. Most of my time is spent reading labels.

I agree with Bill Maher--food is either medicinal or it's poison.

I used to eat junk food and lots of processed food. I stopped and am eating only healthy foods, drinking lots of water and
working out. I have never felt better. I feel as if I was truly poisoned before eating the nonsense that big ag wants
us to gorge on. Everything is saturated with so much sodium and sugar. These ingredients encourage addiction--and turn
on pleasure centers in the brain--making you want to eat the whole bag.

The odds are stacked against us. In order to be healthy--you must work hard and invest a lot of time in avoiding the
nutritional land mines. It really sucks.

Not to mention--is it expensive. I used to feed our family of four on $230 per month. I used coupons (and I had multiple
copies of coupons from the Sunday newspapers) to drive our food bill down, saving 75 percent off of our grocery bill. But
we were eating poison.

Our grocery bill now--is a whopping $550-$600 per month--and it's all healthy food and some expensive food like salmon,
almond milk, tons of fresh produce, etc. Most families can't afford to do this. It's much easier to buy bulky, processed
bag and fill up--then eat healthy.

I remember in my lunch bag--I had a Hostess snowball every day, and a bag of chips. Those things were made with real sugar
and fats that weren't partially hydrogenated. You could recover from those foods. Today's foods are toxic and cause
organ damage. Just look at our kids--epidemic levels of obesity, diabetes and some kids have the symptoms of heart disease!

Considering that our healthcare system is an unfair joke--doled out only to those who can afford it--it's a crime that
our food is so corrupt and unhealthy. Our food is making us sick and our healthcare system is broke. Lovely.

Sorry to drone on and on--but I am very disturbed by all of this.

[DBoon]

11. article doesn't deal with alcohol consumption

I believe it is much lower in the USA than in other industrialized countries (thank the puritans for that).

You would expect see higher rates of alcohol related illness and accidental death in other countries

Nevertheless, the US lags in overall health metrics