Life expectancy drops for women in many U.S. counties

Life expectancy drops for women in nearly 25% of U.S. counties
by Laura Clawson

The South is being ravaged, many people here 'cannot afford to get better'. Yes, there are some steps people can take on their own such as weight control (however many cannot even control that). I know many people who say they cannot afford to eat healthy due to the higher food cost.


Poverty Map


Low life expectancy for women and Blacks map, the obesity map and the poverty map. Not much difference.

 

The root here, is lack of health-care. Many developed countries have free health care. I have traveled the world, and this is the developed country that I fear for my health the most if something went wrong if I am not covered. I'm not talking about an accident, but a health issue where I'd need long-term medical care (ie cancer). Who's covering it, if I can't. No one. So I would die much quicker.

 

It's more than just mere lack of healthcare. The overall standard of living for the working communities especially is fairly low. People simply lack the access of a healthy lifestyle.

 

Obama's Health care reform (Universal Health Care, I believe) takes affect on January 1st, 2014. This will cause us to catch up with Europe and other industrialized countries in terms of Medicare, general health, etc. Obama will have to win in 2012 for this to take place, because I am confident that the Republicans would try to repeal everything. This reminds me of this thread (below) and the thread about diabetes among everyone increasing globally.

http://www.whitewomenblackmen.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18348

 

I would disagree with this wording. You don't have to belong to a gym to have access to a healthy lifestyle.

There are parks everywhere people can walk in, ride bikes in, jog, etc. I see people jogging on major roads during rush hour around the suburbs. I, personally, think these people have a death wish, but there is no reason people can't get up and f-ing move if they wanted to.

Fast food places have made it too quick and easy for people to choose them for lunch/dinner instead of making something healthier at home.

There is no end to the access people can have to healthy lifestyles. The problem is: people want this stuff to fall into their laps instead of doing some research.

The interweb has an unbelievable amount of websites for people to find exercises they can do at home (even without a lot of expensive equipment) where they can get in shape.

There are even free websites like SparkPeople that offer online food logs, forums, recipes, etc that people can log in and look for to help them lead healthier lives.

Again, it's all FREE.

 

I think that there is something to what LBW says about this. Physical activity may be the (relatively) easy part, but access to healthy food is a huge problem. There are vast "food deserts" created by lack of access to supermarkets. The USDA's map of such areas is pretty shocking:

http://www.ers.usda.gov/data/fooddesert/fooddesert.html

Even for those with better access, the reality is that the less expensive a food item is, the more likely it is to kill you, more or less. Food that's inexpensive is high in carbs, sugar, and all sorts of stuff that's really just terrible for you.

Of course, one can live a very healthy lifestyle and still experience health problems due to genetics, accident, envronmental factors or a variety of other causes.

Thanks for the informative (if unfortunate!) post, Botoan.

 

AMEN!!! Too many are too fuckin lazy & wont put forth the effort

 

Yes, it makes sense. At the very least though, you would need to purchase a sports watch which has the ability to time the duration of your workout and some jogging/running shoes.

 

Exactly!!!!! I agree!
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It's all about obesity!
They don't have to eat completely healthy food either. Just need to stop eating so much right? People have a problem with controlling how much they eat. (proportions people) lol. I used to be a fat kid (e coli/eboli killed metabolism) and i just started watching how much i ate. have been losing ever since then. just need to at least walk.

I don't really understand being overly obese

 

Botoan has written a really thoughtful post, and I think it's somewhat dismissive to say that all those people who are not living as long are just fat and lazy. The numbers alone suggest that it's more than that.

Take a look at the graphic depicting people who live at or below the poverty line. For a single person, the poverty line in the US is $10,890 a year. On this sum of money, a person has to pay for a place to live and transportation. They also have to buy food. On less then $1000/month, they are not going to be buying protein and fresh fruits and veggies or whole grains. Next time you're at the grocery store, think about what you could buy on that budget. As for health insurance... anyone earning that level of income is probably NOT going to have health benefits through an employer.

I mean, sure... people can exercise without paying for a gym membership, but that strikes me as really being a small part of the problem. Our impoverished jogger still has to contend with malnutrition and lack of access to health care. It's really no wonder that life expectancy is declining when we think about the number of people who are unemployed or underemployed in this economy.

 

So you mean to tell me the whole world is going to smell McSausauge like this joint? :smt005

 

No one is disagreeing with you. We all know about these problems.

My post was directed at that one sentence of BBW's that I disagreed with. Of course the problem is MUCH bigger than that. But I didn't feel the need to state every little issue that is causing it.

You are preaching to the choir. We all know this stuff. :smt023

 

BBW was talking about a healthy lifestyle, and your reply was that poor people could still exercise. I don't think that the ability to exercise is all that goes into a healthy lifestyle.... and posts like this one:

don't seem to know all this stuff.... but if I'm wrong, then I'm glad that people understand the plight of those living below the poverty line.