Tag Archives: Healthy People 2010

Reading Up On Social Determinants of Health

October may be Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but a number of articles came out last week focusing on social determinants of health. The phrase “social determinants of health” refers to health where we live, learn, work, play (and pray). In short, Health with a capital H.

U.S. Life Expectancy Rises, Health Disparities Increase

Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shared its review of Healthy People 2010. The report shared that as a Nation, we had met or were moving toward meeting, 71% of the disease prevention and health promotion objectives we set in 2000.

Despite this, the data also underscored the need for improvement in a number of critical areas, including health disparities and obesity rates. These two issues, as well as other key indicators of health, are top priorities of Healthy People 2020 (disclaimer: client).

“…Addressing health disparities continues to be our greatest challenge,” said Dr. Edward Sondik, Ph.D., director of the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). “…All Americans should be concerned that disparities among people from socially, economically or environmentally disadvantaged backgrounds have generally remained unchanged.”

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Examining a 40-Year Spread in Life Expectancy Abroad

The October issue of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Bulletin is packed full of information on social determinants of health–including examples of work in progress and insights gained from around the world.

“Yes, there is a greater than 40-year spread in life expectancy among countries and dramatic social gradients in health within countries,” said Michael Marmot of University College London in his editorial. “But the evidence suggests that we can make great progress towards closing the health gap by improving, as the [World Health Organization’s Commission on Social Determinants of Health] put it, the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.”

The bulletin includes another editorial that highlights potential solutions to improving the social determinants of health, as well as a number of research articles and relevant news.

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An Agenda for Fighting Disparities

What are the Occupy Wall Street protests all about? Author Geoff Livingston describes its as a “groundswell of economic injustice.” Playing a role behind the scenes in economic and social injustice are social determinants of health and health disparities. Perhaps it’s time to bring them to the forefront.

The October issue of Health Affairs presents an agenda on fighting disparities. In it, Dr. Howard Koh, Assistant Secretary for HHS, discusses a key part of this agenda, HHS’ National Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. Analysis and commentary on how health reform may impact health disparities is also provided. What might be most surprising is that one research study included in the issue, shares that only 59% of Americans are even aware that health disparities exist!

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No Black-White Health Gap in Canada Says Study

Meanwhile, our friends in Canada may be one step ahead. According to a recent study and as reported in BET, “blacks are equally healthy as their white counterparts.” BET went on to say:

“Thomas A. LaVeist, a co-author of the study and director of the Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions in Baltimore says that he believes America’s history of treating Blacks as second-class citizens plays a large role in the Black-white health disparity that exists in the U.S.”

As a heads up, LaVeist also cautions taking the results at their surface as the the results could have significant limitations because the survey included just 729 Blacks, compared with more than 280,000 whites reported BET.

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Health is About More Than Healthcare

LaVeist also published another study about how place–and not necessarily race–contributes to  health disparities. The study, based on a neighborhood in Baltimore composed equally of whites and blacks, found that within the integrated community, health disparities all but disappear. This suggests that as a Nation, we’ve been looking for answers on how to improve health the wrong way. Instead, we should be looking at what’s going on in certain communities that what’s going on within certain populations. As quoted in the Atlantic:

“Solutions to health disparities are likely to be found in broader societal policy and policy that is not necessarily what we would think of as health policy,” LaVeist says. “It’s housing policy, zoning policy, it’s policy that shapes the characteristics of communities.”

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flickr credit: woodleywonderworks

Why Advocacy Is an Important Social Marketing Tool

Concerned about obesity? Either personally or within your community? You are not alone. One way to combat obesity is by promoting and advocating for more fruit and veggie consumption.

Your mother may have always told you to eat your fruit and veggies. If so–consider yourself fortunate. According to new data from the CDC in the first ever State Indicator Report on Fruits and Veggies, more us need to dish up.

The CDC report provides information for each state on how many fruits and veggies people are eating and importantly, it highlights three key areas within communities and schools that can be improved to increase access, availability and affordability of fruits and veggies. According to the report, it shows that no state is meeting the national goals that were outlined in Healthy People 2010 (as an fyi, you can now comment on the Healthy People 2020 objectives to help frame our nation’s health priorities).

Fruits and veggies are essential to healthy living, preventing obesity and protecting us from chronic diseases and certain cancer–yet simply put, the CDC report found that many of us can’t eat the recommend amounts because we can’t fruits and veggies may not be easily accessible, available or affordable. What I like about this report, is that is not only states the problem–but offers ways to overcome it. And many of them, tap into the social marketing tool of advocacy.

  1. Did you know that only 8 states have a state-level policy for healthier food retail improvements? Is your state one of these? If not, advocate for policy to address this concern.
  2. Did you know that only 1 in 5 middle and high schools offer fruits and non-fried veggies in vending machines, school stores or snack bars? And did you know that only 21 states have a state-level policy to increase fruit and vegetable access in schools? Check to see if this is your state, and if not, advocate that policy addresses this concern.
  3. Have you ever heard of a food policy council? According to the CDC, a food policy council is a “multi-stakeholder organization to improve food environments.” And guess what–only 20 states have a state-level food policy council and only 59 local food policy councils exist across the nation. I can’t vouch for their effectiveness, but it seems like a great way to start a conversation about the issue and presents another opportunity to advocate and organize.

For further inspiration to fuel ways to advocate for healthier behaviors in your community, check out CDC’s State Indicator Report on Fruits and Veggies as it provides fruit and vegetable consumption–as well as policy and environmental support–within each state. As an added resource, the CDC has also put together this report outlining recommended community strategies to address obesity.

At the CDC conference in August, we were reminded about the power and ability to leverage advocacy to meet social marketing objectives…looks like we have quite the opportunity here. Feel free to share what you and/or your community is doing to address this epidemic. We can continue spreading awareness about the obesity epidemic, or we can choose to do something about it.

flickr credit: mightmightmatz