Author: Sarah Riordan

Eating disorders are more serious and prevalent than most people realize.  They can range from binge eating to near starvation to making yourself purge daily. Each and every version of an eating disorder can have serious consequences on a person’s health.   In many cases, they can lead to death.

That’s why it’s hard to form an opinion on Congresswoman Mary Bono’s bill, H.R. 2677. The bill addresses the issue of eating disorders and proposes giving money to facilities that treat them.  On the one hand that sounds perfectly reasonable, but there’s just something about the text of the bill that doesn’t feel right.

Perhaps it’s because most of the 26-page bill has to do with childhood obesity.  Someone please tell me why childhood obesity has become the new craze.  Everyone understands that it’s healthier to be in shape, and most people understand how to fix the problem of being a little less than fit.  Pretty much every Joe Blow on the street corner can tell you that diet and exercise fix obesity.  So why are doctors and teachers acting as if the world is ignorant to the problem?  NEWS FLASH: No one is ignorant to weight issues, and not a single obese person is unaware of their condition.  There are plenty of news stories, fliers, and doctors who are more than willing to tell a child that they should be fit and active.  So ultimately, that side of the bill is a waste of taxpayer dollars.  The bill wants to treat childhood obesity as an eating disorder, but it doesn’t quite fall in the category. Congress shouldn’t use our money to tell people what they already know. 

Now, there are some parts of the bill where Bono starts to actually make some decent points.  Anorexia is a serious disease, and the bill states that of all psychiatric disorders, (depression, anxiety etc.) anorexia has the highest death rate.   Treatment facilities for anorexia are also hard to come by.  They exist, but only if you can pay thousands of dollars a year for treatment.  On the other end, you can go to a hospital psychiatric ward, but the treatment is not specialized, and a young girl will most likely end up sharing a room with a person who suffers from schizophrenia.  So clinics that are somewhere between the two extremes are needed.

Bulimia is similar.  Most girls who suffer from anorexia also have bulimia.  Every once in a while, a girl with anorexia will binge eat, and then force herself to regurgitate.   Because the two go hand-in-hand, treatments for both are important.  So again, the idea of giving grants to treatment centers for bulimia is a good idea.

To summarize, while the bill does address some important issues it seeks to strong of a governmental role.  If it simply focused on providing much needed treatment facilities for eating disorders , then it’s a good way to use taxpayer dollars.  Childhood obesity however, should be left to doctors and families.  Until more research is conducted on the matter, and obesity is diagnosed as an official mental problem, then for the time being let’s stick with the main food-related issues of which we have a better understanding.

Author: Crystal Fontaine

Recently, the United Health Foundation, in conjunction with the American Public Health Association, released a study rating the healthiest and least healthy states in America. The study ranked the fifty U.S states on per capita percentages of obesity, cardiovascular disease, child poverty, smoking, and so forth. Each state was ranked accordingly with the national average. The report focuses on four key areas that include personal behaviors, public and health policy, clinical care, and community and environment.

One must head north, apparently, to find some of the healthiest states in America, including Washington and Massachusetts. Leading the charts of the healthiest state in the nation is Vermont. The state has the fewest children living in poverty as well as growth in the specialty of prenatal care, climbing the rankings from twenty-nine to number two in the nation. Although Vermont’s obesity has doubled since the 1990’s, it still falls below the national average. On the other end of the spectrum, Mississippi is considered the unhealthiest states with the highest rate of children living in poverty with the overall highest levels of obesity, cardiovascular disease, and smoking rates.

Unfortunately for Americans, the United States as whole is failing when it comes to health. Compared to the international community, the United States average life expectancy is sixty-nine years, falling behind twenty-seven other developed nations. Leading at an average life expectancy of seventy-five years, Japan seems to be doing something right in the health department. Key factors contributing to the United States decline in health include the rising of obesity as well as a growing number of people who are uninsured.

Addressing this issue, Obama’s plan calls for an overhaul of the nation’s health care system with high hopes not to repeat the same line of costly mistakes of the Clinton Administration some 15 years ago, leading us into the negative health trends we are facing today. The Early Strategy Plan starts with giving the public a chance in voicing any concerns and experiences, which confronts a major criticism that former President Clinton’s plan had been too enigmatic. Other lessons include the need to move fast and to not let go until the job is done. According to Tom Daschle, Obama’s recently announced Secretary of Health and Human Services, “Details kill…if we get too far into the weeds…we’re going to get hung up on all the details and we’re never going to get to the principles”.

As wonderful as re-configuring the health care system sounds, the immense costs for restructuring the system are daunting. During his campaign, President-elect Obama planned to pay by increasing taxes on the wealthy and requiring larger businesses to either offer health coverage or supply some of their payroll to a new public insurance plan. However, this might prove to be difficult with the current economic situation and the United State’s seemingly insurmountable debt.

Author: Sara Hilbert

Obesity is a national public health concern, a serious problem that faces this coming generation with a furry. According to 2006 data by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the United States has the highest prevalence of obesity among the world’s developed nations. We need to step up and become more than an advocate – we need a revolution. S.3584, sponsored by Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), is looking for something more than a national e-diet. He is looking for ways we need to “to comprehensively prevent, treat, and decrease overweight and obesity in our Nation’s populations.”

Fast Facts:

o   Obese individuals have a 50-100% increase of premature death

o   Being overweight/obese increases the risk of chronic disease like: diabetes, heart disease, stroke, certain cancers, and arthritis

o   32% from ages 2-19 are obese/overweight

o   66% of adults are obese/overweight

o   About $117,000,000,000 was spent in 2001 in overweight/obesity caused problems

o   70% of adults are getting less than 20 minutes of regular physical activity per day and many are completely sedentary

o   For children born in 2000, estimated lifetime risk of being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes is 40% for females and 30% for males

In order “To comprehensively prevent, treat, and decrease overweight and obesity in our Nation’s populations”:

Bingaman‘s “Obesity Prevention, Treatment, and Research Act of 2008,” will create a council called “United States Council on Overweight-Obesity Prevention” (USCO-OP). Membership will consist of 20 secretaries or representatives from the following departments: Agriculture, Education, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Federal Trade Commission and Transportation. Members may also be selected from other government groups, such as the Federal Communication Commission, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and the Healthcare Research and Quality, Medicare/ Medicaid, and the FDA. This mega group will work together in an attempt to develop strategies, interagency cooperation, and gain community involvement with one goal in mind: to comprehensively prevent, treat, and reduce overweight and obesity.

If it were to pass, the bill’s specific consumer-choice provisions would help consumers make better choices, empowering the choice of the individual and thereby placing responsibility on one for one’s one health. About 30% of American’s total calorie intake is high-energy dense and low-nutrient dense food. These foods can be over-consumed easily because the brain’s pathways that regulate hunger and influence normal food intake are not triggered by these foods. Over the years, the packaging industry and product placement strategy use more manipulation and encourage consumption at the expense of our health.  Food and beverage labeling reform is necessary because it is a large contributor to the epidemic. In addition, due to such products being made in mass quantities they tend to be significantly cheaper than healthier alternatives.

This bill will also take into consideration eating disorders and related various chronic medical conditions to help better prevent. This committee will involve discussions through varied strategies with patients from at-risk and diverse populations to promote positive behavior change and healthy lifestyles. Discussions will include topics such as weight and the Body Mass Index (BMI) measurement and monitoring as well as appropriate treatment services, medical nutrition therapy services, physical therapy or exercise training and behavioral health counseling. This program will make amendments to the social security act to give Medicare coverage of medical nutrition therapy services for people with pre-diabetes within the system.

No one wishes for his or her child to have low self-esteem or to grow up very sick. No one wishes to spend their life savings on medical bills for themselves. Nevertheless, the actions we are making today are causing every one of these problems. This bill gives us that extra push and support to help us make better decisions. It will regulate marketing strategies to make consistent and accurate labeling. It is never too late begin a healthier lifestyle. Knock it off with the fad diets and quick weight loss strategies. It is time for a transformation. Take the challenge. 

Need a place to start? Try these:

http://www.50millionpounds.com/

http://www.shapeup.org/ 

Find out your BMI:

http://www.obesityinamerica.org/

Author: Sara Hilbert

After reading through page one of the HeLP America Act, I could not be anything less than an advocate for health care reform.  I have heard the same empty promises for change and reform as you. To be honest, I began the project a little biased, thinking it was going to be another cheap proposal where we still end up short changed. As I read this detailed 173-page proposal I became more and more surprised – it is more than a campaign speech to get votes, it is more than a demonstration chanting about some cause, it is more than a committee to study the problem. Gather round everyone for the long awaited solution.

The Health of the Nation

H.R.2633, the “Healthy Lifestyles and Prevention America Act” seeks to improve the health of Americans and reduce health care costs by reorienting the nation’s health care system toward prevention, wellness, and self-care. It acknowledges the fact that the per capita health spending in the United States is 56 percent higher than the median country that is a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation. By 2014, America will be spending an estimated cost of $3,600,000,000,000 a year on health care. It is evident these representatives have done their homework. They bring the most recent data and cost compelling facts, explaining that an astonishing 75% of health care costs go directly to chronic diseases like cardio vascular disease, stroke, obesity, cancer, and diabetes. In addition, 65% adults are overweight or obese in America. Everyday there are 4,000 new users of tobacco products, all under the age of 18.  About 25% of adults and 40% college students smoke. For those whom need mental health treatment, only 1 in every 2 people receive it.

As I already said, there is no need to make tee shirts with these facts; the deficient, unsuccessful health care system affects us directly. So where is this new approach to health in America? 

Details of the bill:

Children and schools

This bill begins to tackle childhood problems. First, this bill would generate a task force to decrease childhood obesity with strategy, inter-agency coordination and evaluation. School programs will revise the definition of “food minimal nutritional value” that was set back in 1966 with the Child Nutrition Act. Then enforcing this new definition and a fresh fruits and vegetable program in all school meal programs, any food sold on school campus at anything during the school day, excluding infrequent fundraisers. There will an increase in funds of the Richard B Russell National School Lunch Act and grants for select schools. Initiatives made to push hospitals and programs to be baby friendly and support breastfeeding excellence. By awarding hospitals certified with increased “un-restricted breastfeeding” education with a onetime award of $20,000. This strategy will include a strong partnership with organization or group to focus on families to increase communication, wellness, play, support, and other assistance. Grants issued to support schools that work with families to implement school-wide prevention strategies, based on mental health research, which will support early and intensive interventions. Other grants include promotions of university community partnerships to reduce youth problem behaviors in our communities and early head start programs.

Communities and the workplace

In an attempt to support healthier communities and workplaces this bill will include tax credits to employers with wellness programs, and campaigns to help employees. These wellness programs motivate employers to implement awareness, education, screening, and employee engagement. The whole idea supports prevention and behavioral change assistance for a long list of issues: tobacco use, obesity, stress management, physical fitness, and more. A national worksite health policy, facilitated by the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, would e created to improve existing employer-based health programs or implement new ones.

Other:

By working through administration, this bill shapes public policy and awareness. It also requires the Secretary to establish a National Advisory Committee on Community Sports Programs for Individuals with Disabilities. Another part provides incentives for states to ensure the safety and convenience of all users of a transportation system, including pedestrians and bicyclists. The most important use of this proposal lies within the details of the research and development to help prepare and improve the future.

Conclusion:

Health is far more important than the absence of disease. When you take this plan and look at ways to prevent and cure diseases, you are creating and maintaining optimal health. Our current system waits for illness, and then spends huge amounts of money to solve the problem, sometimes ignoring the underlying lifestyle related to the problem. This is like waiting for a leaky roof to destroy the infrastructure of the house, then going in to repair the damage without fixing the leak. There will not be a change unless we can convince all involved that this “rescue” medicine is killing us and strive to work from a true picture of the status quo.

This bill takes the initiative to convince doctors and professionals, government, organizations, research and other companies through education and structural reforms for a widespread adoption and smooth transition to a healthier America. Most of all, this new mindset empowers patients to take responsibility for their own health. When you move the power out of hands of those profiting from our illness and rescue medicine society, you are giving America a stronger future and a healthier life.