Not my perkiest post but still an important issue:
There was an interesting article in the National Post last month around life expectancy and life quality.
While it's true that our life expectancy has increased over the decades, it is being argued that quality of life may be decreasing due to chronic disease. Keep in mind that the statistics used for this article need to be taken with a grain of salt. It doesn't take all possible factors into consideration when looking at quality of life and health improvements. It is safe to say however that rates of chronic diseases have been steadily climbing throughout developed nations.
Where once the fear was dying young from polio or starvation, our new enemies appear to be high blood pressure, obesity, smoking and alcohol. Children are much more likely to over eat than starve today.
Chronic inactivity and poor eating habits are often said to be at the heart of it, though we also have to consider issues like policies that build un-walkable neighborhoods or school cafeterias that do not provide healthy food choices.
Even when we do everything right sometimes we cannot avoid chronic disease. However, rates of inactivity, stress, sleep deprivation, salt intake, over eating and sugar consumption have slowly been on the rise over the past few decades.
Healthcare costs rise every year and according to healthcare specialists that I have spoken with, it is predicted that chronic disease will bankrupt the Canadian healthcare system within 10 years if something isn't done.
Scary right?
That is why prevention at a young age and working towards living healthier lives is so important.
After all, is it really so great to live to 100 if you are suffering from chronic disease for 70 of those years?
What do you think should be done?
To Read More: National Post Article
There was an interesting article in the National Post last month around life expectancy and life quality.
While it's true that our life expectancy has increased over the decades, it is being argued that quality of life may be decreasing due to chronic disease. Keep in mind that the statistics used for this article need to be taken with a grain of salt. It doesn't take all possible factors into consideration when looking at quality of life and health improvements. It is safe to say however that rates of chronic diseases have been steadily climbing throughout developed nations.
Where once the fear was dying young from polio or starvation, our new enemies appear to be high blood pressure, obesity, smoking and alcohol. Children are much more likely to over eat than starve today.
Chronic inactivity and poor eating habits are often said to be at the heart of it, though we also have to consider issues like policies that build un-walkable neighborhoods or school cafeterias that do not provide healthy food choices.
Even when we do everything right sometimes we cannot avoid chronic disease. However, rates of inactivity, stress, sleep deprivation, salt intake, over eating and sugar consumption have slowly been on the rise over the past few decades.
Healthcare costs rise every year and according to healthcare specialists that I have spoken with, it is predicted that chronic disease will bankrupt the Canadian healthcare system within 10 years if something isn't done.
Scary right?
That is why prevention at a young age and working towards living healthier lives is so important.
After all, is it really so great to live to 100 if you are suffering from chronic disease for 70 of those years?
What do you think should be done?
To Read More: National Post Article
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