Compelling Facts

I’m told that as a population we no longer like to read but we prefer videos. However, I hope that many of you will take the time to read the compelling facts about the state of our health and the failure of the Standard American Diet.  Information below is taken from a healthcare website that trains and encourages physicians to understand the critical role that nutrition plays in turning our current state of affairs around.

 It’s estimated that a minimum of 70% of all healthcare dollars are spent on treatment of conditions that are preventable.
• 70% of Americans are overweight or obese.
• Nearly one-half of the American population will be obese by 2030, according to a 2012 study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
• Childhood obesity has tripled in the last 30 years: One out of three American children is overweight or obese.
• 37% of our children who are not considered overweight have one or more cardiovascular risk factors.
• According to Medicare: Health care expenditures in the United States were nearly $2.6 trillion in 2010, an average of $8,402 per person.
• 70 million Americans have hypertension, with elevated risk for stroke and heart attack.
• The War on Cancer, waged by President Nixon, began over 40 years ago, yet, if trends continue, it will surpass heart disease as the #1 killer.
• 100M Americans have diabetes or pre-diabetes, with increased risk of amputation, heart disease, blindness, and limb loss.
• Rates of type 2 diabetes increased by 22% among U.S. adults from 1999 to 2008.
• Current trends suggest that one in three children born after 2000 will receive a type 2 diabetes diagnosis (for Hispanic children is 1 in 2).
• Many experts project type 2 diabetes as the future global epidemic, with diagnosis projections as high as one in three individuals from industrialized nations that have adopted the Standard American Diet.
• The share of the economy devoted to health care has increased from 7.2% in 1970 to 17.9% in 2009 and 2010, now at 18% of GDP.
• The U.S. spends substantially more on health care than other developed countries. As of 2009, health spending in the U.S. was about 90% higher than in many other industrialized countries, yet it ranks near the bottom in health outcomes.
• Last to note:  90% of the U.S. senior population consumes prescription drugs; with costs doubling in the last 30 years; prescription drugs are the #4 cause of death with 45-50 million adverse events annually.