Child Obesity in China, you can thank KFC, finger-licking disgusting.
Week 4's class was rather interesting, because we often dismiss chronic disease as the affliction of old age. My grandfather died of lung cancer but he had a long life, full of struggle as he survived the Armenian Genocide, fought the Nazis as a partisan in Greece, but also happiness as he had lots of grandchildren. He was also a lifetimes smoker.
This article was an eye opener as it talked about people in their 30's in Russia and India dying of heart attacks. From what we've discussed in class, the videos and articles we've read so far, it's clear that in the last couple of decades, along with global trade and exchange of information and culture, we've also exported the American diet and lifestyle and with it our cardiovascular disease. Someone in class mentioned a KFC in every corner in China. We're robbing these people fo their culture and killing them at the same time. According to "Race Against Time: The Challenge of Cardiovascular Disease in Developing Countries"
Report
In lower and middle income countries, cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality is occurring at an alarmingly younger age, often during the most productive years of an individual's life, not only wrenching them away from their families, leaving widows in poverty, but also taking young people of out of the economy, thereby threatening its expansion.
Non-Communicable Diseases result in more deaths and account for more years of healthy life lost than communicable disease, yet there's little aid available for prevention efforts. Cardiovascular disease (CVD,including heart disease, diabetes, and obesity) is the cause of 30 percent of all deaths globally and 27 percent of deaths in low income countries, compared to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, which account to 10% of all global deaths and 11% of death, yet there is little aid going to prevent and treat CVD globally.
Johns Hopkins
Prevention and treatment programs for CVD are relatively low cost-per-life saved and disability prevented. The risk factors associated with CVD, including high fat diets, lack of exercise, smoking, and obesity are preventable and modifiable and there is no reason why the global health community should not emphasize prevention efforts on CVD in addition to infectious disease.
5 comments:
hey emma, i was shocked too when i read "a race against time"...it made a very convincing argument for turning our attention to something that seemed to be overlooked (at least immediately) by the MDG's. my dad's a smoker too. he's a surgeon--a vascular surgeon!--and has been a smoker for over 4 decades. his lung screenings are normal, but we all know that the health effects of tobacco encompass more than just lung cancer. what i learned from seeing my dad try over and over again to quit is just how incredibly addictive it is, and how great an effort must be made to stop.
yes, you can place some blame on KFC for the obesity epidemic in China. but like most public health issues, the obesity issue in China is due to a combination of factors. as PH professionals we cannot forget this.
Emma I always enjoy reading your blogs:) One thing that I need to say is that the education system in America on “prevention medicine” is weak. The factors that you have included in your blog are points that are easy to follow, but having a right method, language to explain the side effects of non-communicable disease to regular people is an ART. Communicating with one and other and trying to give public the health message is a very important fact that we need to work on. Having the skills is not enough but we also need to find a way to be influential in people’s behavior. Lets hope for a better, healthier future with more rewarding outcome!
Hello Emma,
Thank you for your thought provoking post. I personally beleive that the fast food and snack food industries play a major role in the global rise in obesity. To me the fact that obesity is no longer a disease of affluence is evidence that the inexpensive, unhealthy, food-like substances that these industries mass market to people of low SES, is contributing to weight gain. I agree that it is not the only factor, but it is definitely a major contributor.
Hey Emma,
That picture of the obese chinese kid is a statement in and of itself :)
Notice in the background that a wise, older chinese man appears to be observing - almost considering how rapidly the culture has changed in just a couple generations.
With globalization changing cultures so quickly, I wonder if... when we're much older, will we be observing some tremendous health issues as the result of lifestyle attributes of our children's children?
Just a thought...
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