My life has been quite the whirlwind lately. We lost my brother in law and best friend Howard to liver cancer, and then my work schedule was changed unexpectedly along with a few more private and personal events I do not want to get into here. And just when it seems that everything is tapering off, along comes the Corona virus and all of a sudden, people everywhere have gone stark raving mad. I will never worry about a zombie apocalypse now, instead my fear is having to wrestle lunatics in the grocery store over a package of toilet paper. If I could find a pack, I might just make sure all in the store watches as I first lick and then cough all over it in order to ensure no one steals the package out of my cart…
I have been a little remiss in my writing lately with all the events that have occurred n my life. I had a muse this morning to write another piece on childhood obesity, but while walking through my grocery store early this morning, seeing the run on bottled water, toilet paper and cleaning supplies, my thoughts on my muse began to change. I’m not a doctor or a scientist so I am not going to get into if I believe the virus is going to wipe out mankind or not, but I do want to address some absurdities:
Immunizations
How many of the toilet paper hoarders refuse to immunize their children against the numerous diseases that have been known to decimate children, diseases such as smallpox, measles, polio, or other vaccine-preventable diseases. A decision not to immunize your child also involves risk and could put your child and others who come into contact with him or her at risk of contracting a potentially deadly disease. Without vaccines, your child is at risk for getting seriously ill and suffering pain, disability, and even death from diseases like measles and whooping cough. Yet, there are many people who refuse to vaccinate their children. Do we need to see them dying again for people to once again take these illnesses serious?
Smokers
If you are a smoker who is fearful of this virus, you really need to re-evaluate your life. If you are afraid of this virus, you should be afraid of every virus that can get you sick or kill you. Cigarette smoking causes about one of every five deaths in the United States each year.
Cigarette smoking is estimated to cause the following:
- More than 480,000 deaths annually (including deaths from secondhand smoke)
- 278,544 deaths annually among men (including deaths from secondhand smoke)
- 201,773 deaths annually among women (including deaths from secondhand smoke)
Cigarette smoking causes premature death:
- Life expectancy for smokers is at least 10 years shorter than for nonsmokers.
- Quitting smoking before the age of 40 reduces the risk of dying from smoking-related disease by about 90%.
How about doing us all a favor and put a can or two of disinfectant back on the grocery store shelf for someone else to have some.
Drinkers
If you are a drinker and panicked by the fact you might die from the Corona virus, why do these facts not bother you?
- An estimated 88,000 people (approximately 62,000 men and 26,000 women) die from alcohol-related causes annually, making alcohol the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States. The first is tobacco, and the second is poor diet and physical inactivity.
- In 2014, alcohol-impaired driving fatalities accounted for 9,967 deaths (31 percent of overall driving fatalities).
- In 2010, alcohol misuse cost the United States $249.0 billion.
- Three-quarters of the total cost of alcohol misuse is related to binge drinking
- In 2012, 3.3 million deaths, or 5.9 percent of all global deaths (7.6 percent for men and 4.0 percent for women), were attributable to alcohol consumption.
- In 2014, the World Health Organization reported that alcohol contributed to more than 200 diseases and injury-related health conditions, liver cirrhosis, cancers, and injuries. In 2012, 5.1 percent of the burden of disease and injury worldwide (139 million disability-adjusted life-years) was attributable to alcohol consumption.
- Globally, alcohol misuse was the fifth leading risk factor for premature death and disability in 2010. Among people between the ages of 15 and 49, it is the first. In the age group 20–39 years, approximately 25 percent of the total deaths are alcohol attributable
- More than 10 percent of U.S. children live with a parent with alcohol problems, according to a 2012 study.
Thursday night at my job, we had several employees not show up to work because of their fear of contracting the Corona virus. Yet, I cannot help to wonder how many of them sat around drinking away their obsessions with others in a bar or at home.
Obesity
In this modern age where we have all the information in the world contained by a small device in the palm of our hands, everywhere you look, there are people with significant weight problems. It is almost like no one either knows how this happens, or maybe they just do not care. Either way, the increasing prevalence of obesity over the last two decades has generated considerable concerns about its health burdens. It is frequently stated in scientific and lay literature that obesity causes about 300, 000 deaths per year in the United States. It has been suggested that obesity is second only to smoking as a preventable cause of death.
It is not rocket science to see that people who are overweight or obese face a lot of health complications. In fact, by being overweight or obese, you increase your risk for many diseases and health conditions that can be more debilitating or deadly than the Corona virus. Unfortunately, obesity rates in the United States are rising. With that statistic comes some staggering costs.
- In the United States, 36.5 percent of adults are obese. Another 32.5 percent of American adults are overweight. In all, more than two-thirds of adults in the United States are overweight or obese.
- Around 17 percent of American children ages 2 to 19 are obese. That’s more than 12.7 million American children. One in eight preschoolers are obese. These statistics are unacceptable! Children who are overweight or obese are five times more likely to be obese or overweight adults than children of normal weight. This can increase their risk for many chronic diseases and health complications.
- If you are overweight or obese, your risk for dozens of diseases and conditions is higher. These include type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer, and many other diseases.
- Globally, obesity is one of the top five leading causes of death. It causes more than 2.8 million deaths each year. The other four leading causes are high blood pressure, tobacco use, high blood glucose, and physical inactivity.
- Obesity costs Americans $147 billion each year. People who are obese pay more out of pocket than people who are not. In fact, the medical costs for people with obesity are $1,429 higher each year than those of people with a normal weight.
- As of 2017, all 50 states have an obesity rate over 20 percent. Just two decades ago, no state had a rate above 15 percent.
- Today, Americans eat 23 percent more calories than we did in 1970. That can really add up. One of the leading causes of overweight and obesity is an imbalance of calories. When you eat more than you burn, your body stores the extra energy as fat. Over time, the pounds can begin to pile on.
- People who are overweight or obese miss about 56 percent more work days than people of normal weight. While normal-weight employees miss an average of three days per year, overweight and obese individuals miss approximately two additional days.
I do not want to take away from the seriousness of the Corona virus pandemic, but seriously, we need people to calm the hell down and quit with the runs on the grocery stores. By taking more than you need, you are preventing others from also being able to buy those goods. Yes, the unknown factors behind this virus is kind of scary, however, there are far more scary things we do with our health each and every day without a thought to deadly or debilitating consequences. It appears the virus is most deadly to older people and those with health problems already. The good news is, there is something you can do about your health that costs little to nothing. What you can do is clean up your dietary habits and quit living a sedentary life. You have it in you to actually be able to increase and improve the quality of your own life if you simply make the choice to do so. Follow us here at David’s Way to Health and FItness, and we can help you to get there. Subscriptions and access are, and always be, free and easy for all.