I'm sure we all know someone who is without health insurance. For an industrialized nation, we lag behind many other countries when it comes to health care; yet we spend so much on improving it. One alarming statistic which took me by surprise is that an astounding 45 million Americans are without health insurance. This rings close to home because some of my family members make up this statistic. I sometimes worry about them getting sick because they lack health insurance. It's funny how the law mandates that you should not drive on the roads unless you are insured. But what about our health; are we less important than machines? Why is it that we cannot provide health insurance for everyone?

According to the Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics, children born in the U.S. in 2004 will live for an average of 77.9 years. This places us at a whopping 42nd in the world! A couple decades earlier we ranked 11th. I know that a lack of health care is not the only contributing factor to our life expectancy demise. Other obvious factors include nutrition and lifestyle since our weight is ballooning and activity level declines yearly. Socialized medicine will certainly increase life expectancy but we have to change other social factors too.

Samantha Goss, RD, LD/N
Nutrition Specialist.

“We are all measured by inches, ages, numbers and all the outside things that don’t add up to who we are on the inside. So let your weight loss journey be one of self-acceptance every step of the way. If you are unhappy with yourself fifty pounds heavier you’ll probably feel the same way when you lose the weight. Happiness is not embedded in outward appearances.”

Labels: Life expectancy