Prevention Matters

The 20th Anniversary Edition of America’s Health Rankings notes a worrisome escalation in preventable diseases that will significantly increase costs in an already unaffordable medical care delivery system. Of the $2.4 trillion of annual health care expenditures in the United States, $1.8 trillion is associated with the treatment of chronic disease, such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer.


Obesity has increased nearly 130 percent since the first edition of America’s Health Rankings was issued 20 years ago. Currently, 27 percent of the population is obese. A supplemental analysis to this year’s report shows America now spends $80 billion in direct health care costs associated with obesity. Left unchecked, 43 percent of adults will be obese and obesity will add nearly $344 billion in 2018 alone to the nation’s annual direct health care costs, accounting for more than 21 percent of health care spending.


America’s Health Rankings  is an annual comprehensive assessment of the nation’s health on a state-by-state analysis. It is published jointly by United Health Foundation, the American Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention. The data in the report comes from validated outside sources, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The report is reviewed and overseen by a Scientific Advisory Committee, with members from leading academic institutions, government agencies and the private sector.

The 2009 Anniversary Edition shows Vermont as the healthiest state this year, while Mississippi is ranked 50th. Over the past 20 years, New York has demonstrated the most improvement in the overall health of its population.

A Mississippi school’s establishment of a fitness room for teachers was named Partnership for Prevention's "Best Prevention Idea of the Week," while an animal rights group’s billboard that mocked fat people in an attempt to turn them against eating meat was named the “Worst Prevention Idea of the Week.”

The Best/Worst Idea awards are a regular feature of Prevention Matters, the blog of Partnership for Prevention. Each week, Partnership for Prevention's staff will choose the designees based on nominations of items in the previous week's news submitted by members, staff and the public at large. To submit a nomination or for more information, contact Damon Thompson at dthompson@prevent.org.



BEST

Middle School Teachers Working Up A Sweat
http://www.wapt.com/news/20603446/detail.html

Byram Middle School in Mississippi recently created its own fitness room for teachers to use while they're at school. The school now has two treadmills that allow teachers the opportunity to work out between classes. Teacher Lisa White said if the students see her putting in the time to work out, it will have a positive effect. “They mirror what they see and I can't sit there in the classroom and talk about health and not do anything about my own,” White said.


WORST

PETA Anti-Meat Billboards Derides Fat People
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=143891&catid=3

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) erected a billboard in town earlier this month that was designed to get people to stop eating meat. It depicted an overweight woman in a swimsuit, and had the words "Save the Whales." The organization replaced the billboards, after hearing objections from people who were offended by an approach they said made fun of the overweight.

More than 400 Mississippi school nurses will become the first in the nation to be trained by a national association to fight increasing cases of childhood obesity in the state. The nurses will be trained by the National Association of School Nurses through the School Nurse Childhood Obesity Prevention Education today and Wednesday at the Marriott Hotel. The program provides strategies for school nurses to assist students, families and the school community to promote healthy weight.