Several years ago Houston earned the dubious distinction as the fattest city in the US. And about the same time Thomas Friedman released his book on globalization, “The World is Flat.”
While we have improved slightly due to actions spearheaded by city leaders and public health officials, our state still has a long way to go based on studies of the Centers for Disease Control.
Click the map to also see the growth of this epidemic (by state) since 1985.
While we have been coming to grips with this problem domestically, it is now being seen in far away parts of the world too. Although very often combined with comparably large growth rates in the use of tobacco and alcohol which can all can contribute to heart and lung disease, cancer, liver disease and diabetes.
For those in the US we have slowly realized how all of these diseases of lifestyle can impact our own longevity and see how it contributes to our health care costs. Yet in many nations where health care is less plentiful (and alcohol and tobacco are only minimally regulated), a growing prosperity brings with it a rise in all of forms of non-communicable disease – particularly for men.
In response, last week the World Health Organization and the UN launched a conference on the topic looking at Non-Communicatble Disease (NCD) where they released a detailed nation by nation report of public health indicators.
In order to address this situation they are calling on nations to better provide for public health regulations and care and increased public education on prevention. In total they estimate that a tremendous difference in mortality rates can be maintained with just $1 per person, per year, spent on public health infrastructure.
However, there are strong opponents on the other side of debate too. As a recent Guardian article observes, among the most notable are lobbyists for tobacco interests of the US. Tobacco, which may seem to be an industry in retreat domestically, is actually a growing export industry worldwide. And combined with food industry and alcohol lobbies, these industries are also trying to have a say in influencing how global policies are now created and shaped.