This morning in the Providence Journal appeared an article summarizing research done by Steven H. Woolf that points to new concerns about Americans who are living shorter lives and who are generally in worse health than citizens of other wealthy nations. An extensive report released this week by the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine pointed to nine health areas in which Americans came in below average. They are:
*** Infant mortality and low birth weight
*** Injuries and homicides
*** Adolescent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections
*** HIV and AIDS
*** Drug related deaths
*** Obesity and diabetes
*** Heart disease
*** Chronic lung disease
*** Disability
Woolf cited the fact that “Even Americans who are white, insured, have college educations and seem to have healthy behaviors are in worse health than similar people in other nations”. Woolf told reporters that the disparities were pervasive across all age groups up to 75 and that it seemed to be caused by a wide range of causes to include our US car culture, the number of uninsured people in the country and weaknesses in our outpatient health-care system. Although we cannot single handedly tackle these causes, we can as individuals work on the personal health piece and avoid becoming part of the statistic.

U.S. health lags behind peer nations
This morning in the Providence Journal appeared an article summarizing research done by Steven H. Woolf that points to new concerns about Americans who are living shorter lives and who are generally in worse health than citizens of other wealthy nations. An extensive report released this week by the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine pointed to nine health areas in which Americans came in below average. They are:
*** Infant mortality and low birth weight
*** Injuries and homicides
*** Adolescent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections
*** HIV and AIDS
*** Drug related deaths
*** Obesity and diabetes
*** Heart disease
*** Chronic lung disease
*** Disability
Woolf cited the fact that “Even Americans who are white, insured, have college educations and seem to have healthy behaviors are in worse health than similar people in other nations”. Woolf told reporters that the disparities were pervasive across all age groups up to 75 and that it seemed to be caused by a wide range of causes to include our US car culture, the number of uninsured people in the country and weaknesses in our outpatient health-care system. Although we cannot single handedly tackle these causes, we can as individuals work on the personal health piece and avoid becoming part of the statistic.