Health Care Crisis
Recently I was involved in a discussion about the health care situation in this country. I don't claim to be a well versed individual when it comes to this stuff. Not even by a long shot. It's far too complex and convoluted for me to even pretend that I'm 'up to speed' on the different aspects of the bills that have recently been passed by our lovely bureaucracy. However, this doesn't change the fact that I believe that there is a root cause to our health care crisis. If you've read my previous article: The State of Our Food, you probably already have a pretty good idea of where I'm headed with this.
Rather than putting band aids on the problems, why don't we fix the problems at their roots? The health care issue crisis in this country can be traced back to poor understanding of basic human health needs.
Just yesterday at work, our managers brought in yet ANOTHER batch of sugar in the form of an ice cream cake to 'thank' us for our hard work. This in a long, long line of nutrition deprived foods that they have been bringing us to 'thank us' for our efforts. Upon declining a slice of cake for the billionth time, my boss asked me why I never partake. My response was that I choose to eat in such a way that I can help to ensure that my future will be healthy. At this point, another coworker responded with: "at this rate, we'll all have type two diabetes in the next two years." My boss' response? "You have to eat like this every single day to get type two diabetes."
Yet again, I was astonished at just how unenlightened even educated people are on the basic areas of nutrition. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. With 23.6 million individuals in the United States (7.8% of the population) being diagnosed with the disease in 2007*, not having an even basic understanding of what can cause Type 2 Diabetes is to essentially say to yourself and your loved ones: I don't care.
It is this very reason that our health care system has become overwhelmed. Rather than understand that the recent spikes in cancer are due to our living habits, we search for a pill to take to cure the cancer. Rather than get out and get exercise and understand how to treat the food that nourishes our bodies, we opt for the lap band solution and gastric bypass. Rather than quit smoking or using chewing tobacco, we opt to continue those nasty habits, then we end up wondering why we haven't found a cure for lung & gum disease. All the while, those folks who chose to live those life styles end up costing those of us who make an effort of health and well being. So, do I think its right that due to all of these folks that I, in turn, should have to pay higher taxes so that Joe Blowhisgut should not understand the impacts his choices have? Absolutely not.
Rather, I believe that we should be educating both our children and our adults better now. Have you ever tried to talk to someone about better nutrition? Someone who you know needs the information badly, before they end up in the same situation in which so many other Americans are now in? Sure, you'll be faced with the look of displeasure. Yes, they will wander off to their little happy place and leave you to contemplate if the time and energy you've just spent on them was even worth the calories you just burned. However, no mater their reaction, it needs to be said. People need to know that eating fast food is not a viable option to a long, healthy life. No matter how cheap it may be right now. In fact, one recent study showed that fast food and it's high fat content, can be as addictive as heroin.* Yet, for some reason, as Americans, we don't find this disturbing enough to do anything about it.
We don't want to blame the Fast Food chains, or our western life style. Of course not, we're the power house of the world. We can't do anything wrong. Or can we? Our thought process just doesn't make sense here. How is it that we go all ape shit on the tobacco companies for selling unhealthy products, yet we embrace fast food and their unhealthy foods with open arms? Does it all boil down to will power or has the marketing game really won us over?* I'll let you make up your own mind on that one.
I believe that stricter standards on displaying food nutrition should be in place. Make these labels make more sense. However, before they can make more sense, we need to educate ourselves on what's acceptable and what's not. This brings me full circle to the Type 2 Diabetes discussion from earlier. If someone ate the food that they were bringing to us on a daily basis, then yes, they would certainly have a high risk of type 2 diabetes. However, it doesn't take eating like that on a daily basis to develop the disease. It takes eating like that on a regular basis. It takes not understanding how to treat food properly. What's more important? Type 2 Diabetes can be prevented in many cases.*
I believe that better incentives for companies that encourage healthy lifestyles should be granted. I'm not talking about handing out incentives for people to quit smoking. What about all those folks who made the right choice in the first place? We're getting shafted!! I'm not talking about rewarding people who lose weight by having them join some weight loss club and pay out a bonus to the individual who loses the most weight. You're ignoring those folks who are already doing their part to maintain a healthy weight. You're essentially rewarding irresponsible behavior from the get go!
I believe that an entire rethink in the way we approach issues such as these are necessary and vital to the continuing success of our nation. To continue on the path we're on is to tell ourselves and our children that we simply don't care any more. That we're done giving a damn and that we've thrown in the towel. Don't feel like preaching to the world to make a change? Then just start with yourself. Lead by example and don't become on of the negative statistics. After all, aren't actions supposed to speak louder than words anyways?
In the mean time, Sign the petition and take a stand!
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