Chronic diseases result from a number of factors, including heredity. But for most people they are largely caused by unhealthy behaviors such as poor nutrition, lack of exercise, smoking and other largely preventable lifestyle choices. Amid the debate about health-care reform, why is there so little discussion of the role each of us can play to improve our health and reduce our nation’s financial burden?
Americans can’t let the health-care debate happen only around conference tables in Washington. We need to have discussions with our families around our kitchen tables. We are part of the problem and should be part of the solution. Helping pay the costs of healing sick people may be an important role for government, but doing what we can to avoid getting sick must be a commitment each of us makes to ourselves, our families and our communities.
This is not about who pays for what. It’s not even really about disease. It’s about the decisions each of us make every day. We can collectively benefit our nation by making smarter choices that don’t burden others with the costs of our sick care.
For most of us, the jargon of the debate over health care isn’t what’s important. While we let our elected officials figure out how to pay for the increased access to care, why doesn’t each of us focus on staying out of the system as much as we can? That means making a few simple changes that, if embraced, can improve our health and save our country a lot of money. Good starts would be: Eat less food and make smarter choices about what to consume. Move your body more. Don’t smoke. These are all simple lifestyle choices that over time can add up to significant change and create a positive long-term impact on your health and our nation’s health-care system.
Via Washington Post