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preventive health care
Exercise and Eating Right Becomes National Health Policy
The Department of Health and Human Services just announced a program that makes a healthy diet part of preventive health care.
By Emily Main
Topics: health care reform
Take health care reform into your own hands with daily walks, dinners at home, and questions for your doctor.
The most effective prescription for healthcare reform? Eating right and exercise.
RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) isn't waiting for either the Senate or the House of Representatives to make preventive health care a part of our national health policy. At a press conference yesterday, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that she would be using money from the stimulus package passed in February to fund and create programs aimed at improving nutrition, cutting obesity, and eliminating tobacco use, all of which cost the nation billions in healthcare dollars.
THE DETAILS: This new program, called "Communities Putting Prevention to Work," allots $650 million for local initiatives that will lead to long-term reductions in obesity and tobacco use, as well as overall improvements in nutrition, such as improving the quality of school lunch programs and opening supermarkets in inner cities. "We don't have to wait for health reform bills to pass to put a higher priority on wellness and prevention," Sebelius said at the conference, noting that obesity alone costs the health system $150 billion per year, more than all forms of cancer combined. Thomas Frieden, MD, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which will oversee the initiative, was also at the conference and added, "Obesity is the largest and only significantly increasing cause of illness and death in this country, and it also increases the risks of other diseases like cancers and heart disease. There is an enormous gap between what we know and what we do today, and this will help bridge that gap."
Initially, the program will make available $373 million in grants for communities to implement programs that emphasize truly preventive health care: healthy nutrition, physical exercise, and cutting tobacco use, for instance, enacting smoking bans and creating physical education programs at schools or community centers. Sebelius and Frieden also stressed the importance of "evidence-based" programs that lead to long-term gains, such as getting junk food and vending machines out of schools and making fresh produce easier to access in low-income neighborhoods.
Published on September 17th, 2009
Last updated on March 25th, 2010
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health
Obesity is a big problem but it is very easy to solve, I am sure that in a couple of years the effects of the preventive health care will definitely introduce new ideas of health: easier to prevent than to cure. When I was younger I had some drug problems and I had to follow treatments at some cocaine treatment centers, beside my biggest problem I had some other in my opinion minor health problem - obesity. After couple of months there I was a different man, I was sober and I started to follow a healthier life: exercise and organic food. Now I am feeling great. We all want to be healthy but we don't know how and I hope that this program will solve this.
Actually...
The term "obese" does not implicate "thin" or "fat", it simply indicates having excess bodyfat to cause adverse effects . Thus, a person who is not thin is not necissarily obese, and a person who is thin does not necessarily mean that he or she is not obese. A person who is not thin can be perfectly healthy given he or she gas a healthy eating habit and active lifestyle. However, a person who IS obese IS unhealthy. The implications that you have drawn are not represented in scientific literature, and are solely sociological biases.
reply to obesity query
Obesity often leads to a sedentary lifestyle and ultimately diabetes. Diabetes leads to a myriad of health problems including high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, blindness, and amputation of limbs. 'Thin' does not mean one is healthy, but 'fat' most likely means you're not. Obesity is a symptom of many problems that one creates in a body, but the only thing that can be 'seen' is the fat.
Good Info but...
Why is health issues always blamed on 'obesity'? I go to the doctor often, and I don't see a lot obese people there with major health issues. Plus, what is considered obese? It seems if you are not 115 and 5'8, you are obese. Where do we finally drawn the line! I grew up in the era where a lot of people starved themselves to death to be thin. So are we now saying that was a good idea? Shouldn't we just promote good health? I am sorry but being 'thin' does not in any form or fashion, guarantee good health. We really should encourage positive self image, being active without putting yourself in the hospital, and eating more organic fruits and vegetables. Doing those things may not make this country 'thin', but it will keep us healthy.