Tag: Health

Health

Poll Watch: Smoker’s Concern About Smoking Increases and Ties Record High

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According to the latest Gallup Poll.

Two in three U.S. smokers now agree that smoking is “very harmful” to adults who smoke, tying the most who have ever said so, but still trailing the more than 8 in 10 Americans and nonsmokers who say the same.

The findings are from Gallup’s annual consumption poll, conducted July 7-10, 2011, which measures Americans’ attitudes on many issues involving smoking, drinking, and weight. The views of “smokers” in 2011 are based on 170 respondents who reported smoking any cigarettes in the past week. The 67% of smokers who say smoking is very harmful is up from the past three years, matching the prior high found in 2004. Americans overall have barely budged over the past decade in their high level of agreement that smoking is very harmful to adults who smoke, with 81% saying so this year.

But, what about secondhand smoke?

There is less consensus among Americans that secondhand smoke is very harmful. The percentage of Americans who agree — 54% this year — has been remarkably steady over the past decade, even as new studies emerge linking secondhand smoke to various ailments. The 35% of smokers and 59% of nonsmokers who agree are also within the range that Gallup has typically found.

The chart:

But, the risks of smoking and secondhand smoke are well documented and acknowledged.

The National Cancer Institute estimates that cigarette smoking causes 443,000 deaths each year and that exposure to secondhand smoke causes approximately 49,400 of those deaths. Recent studies have also linked secondhand smoke to behavior and learning problems among children and hearing loss among teenagers.

So, what does this all mean?

Americans’ views about the risks of smoking and secondhand smoke have held largely steady in recent years, even as the percentage who support a ban on smoking in all public places surged to a record high this year. Together, the findings suggest that Americans have largely made up their minds about the risks of smoking, and that nonsmoking Americans want to see more action to protect them from the danger they perceive from secondhand smoke.

For their part, smokers have returned to a higher level of acknowledgment of the risks of smoking and secondhand smoke. Further, these views coincide with slightly lower levels of smoking overall; 22% of Americans now report smoking in the past week, compared with 28% in 2001.

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Health

Americans Do Not Support Bias in Hiring Smokers or the Obese

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According to the latest Gallup Poll.

More than 8 in 10 Americans think it is not right for companies to refuse to hire people just because they are significantly overweight or smoke. Fourteen percent say the practice should be allowed for each.

The views Americans express in the July 7-10 poll are essentially unchanged from prior Gallup readings on the same questions since 2005. In 2003, Gallup also found most Americans saying that if they were in a position to hire someone, it would make no difference to them if that person were overweight (79%) or smoked (74%).

While the new poll found that for the first time a majority of Americans want smoking to be banned in all public places, far fewer people support making it completely illegal in the United States. Taking all these findings about smoking together shows that Americans — while generally in favor of not having others smoke around them — appear mostly supportive of an individual’s freedom of choice to use tobacco.

But, they do favor higher health insurance rates or smokers but not for the very obese.

In contrast to the lack of support for hiring discrimination against smokers, the majority of Americans (60%) say it is justified to set higher health insurance rates for smokers. Thirty-eight percent say it is unjustified.

Similarly, Americans are more supportive of setting higher health insurance rates for people who are significantly overweight than they are of allowing companies not to hire such people (42% vs. 14%). However, the majority — 57% — say it is unjustified to set higher rates just because someone is very overweight.

Here is the chart:

So, what are the implications?

Most Americans say live and let live. As long as YOUR behavior does not affect me, then go for it.

However, a majority does now favor a ban in smoking in public places (as second hand smoke does affect others). But, if you want to eat yourself to poor health and literally to an early death, then it is your business.

As companies across the United States face the challenge of maintaining a healthy, productive workforce and grapple with rising health insurance costs, corporate hiring policies and insurance rates for smokers and very overweight people are becoming prominent issues.

Americans are clear on one point, though — they do not support allowing companies to discriminate against smokers or significantly overweight people when making hiring decisions. Whether a national consensus or corporate policy, however, has any impact on a specific hiring situation is a separate issue. The data confirm that if a man is making the hiring decision, he may be more likely than a woman to discriminate against a very overweight person — similar to what Gallup has found in the past.

Americans are more divided when it comes to how to set health insurance rates for smokers and the very overweight. While a majority say it is justified to set higher rates for smokers, a similar majority says it is unjustified to do the same for significantly overweight people.

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Dentistry

Pediatricians Issue Warnings About Energy and Sports Drinks for Children

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Common energy drinks

The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued warnings about the appropriateness of sports and energy drinks in this paper. Here is the abstract.

Clinical Report—Sports Drinks and Energy Drinks for Children and Adolescents: Are They Appropriate?

    COMMITTEE ON NUTRITION AND THE COUNCIL ON SPORTS MEDICINE AND FITNESS

Abstract

Sports and energy drinks are being marketed to children and adolescents for a wide variety of inappropriate uses. Sports drinks and energy drinks are significantly different products, and the terms should not be used interchangeably. The primary objectives of this clinical report are to define the ingredients of sports and energy drinks, categorize the similarities and differences between the products, and discuss misuses and abuses. Secondary objectives are to encourage screening during annual physical examinations for sports and energy drink use, to understand the reasons why youth consumption is widespread, and to improve education aimed at decreasing or eliminating the inappropriate use of these beverages by children and adolescents. Rigorous review and analysis of the literature reveal that caffeine and other stimulant substances contained in energy drinks have no place in the diet of children and adolescents. Furthermore, frequent or excessive intake of caloric sports drinks can substantially increase the risk for overweight or obesity in children and adolescents. Discussion regarding the appropriate use of sports drinks in the youth athlete who participates regularly in endurance or high-intensity sports and vigorous physical activity is beyond the scope of this report.

It is important to differentiate between energy drinks which contain a goodly amount of caffeine and other stimulants and sports drinks which contain sugar and electrolytes. I guess use is a matter of moderation and if the child is an athlete for sports drinks.

Sports and energy drinks are hugely popular with kids. But the nation’s pediatricians are not such big fans. They’re now telling kids to lay off the energy drinks, and to use sports drinks only when they really need them — like when they’re playing sports.

A new clinical report from the American Academy of Pediatrics warns that energy drinks, or any other drink with caffeine, should be off limits to children and teenagers. That includes colas and coffee drinks.

But the doctors are particularly worried about energy drinks, particularly since they often contain high levels of caffeine and other stimulants, and that’s often not clear on the label. The pediatricians say energy drinks often get confused with sports drinks, which generally don’t have caffeine.
 
Caffeine not only interferes with sleep, it can cause anxiety, raise heartbeats, and increase the risk of dehydration. “There’s great concern about what [caffeine] does over time or in high doses to a young, growing body that’s not fully mature,” says Dr. Holly Benjamin. She is a pediatric sports medicine specialist at the University of Chicago, and coauthor of the new report, which was published in Pediatrics. “It’s almost like a stress to your body.”

Sports drinks don’t have that problem, but they do have sugar as the primary ingredient. That causes another problem. “Kids will drink a Gatorade after school,” Benjamin says. “They’ll drink a Gatorade at lunch. They’ll drink a Gatorade with dinner.”

All that sugar can contribute to obesity and tooth decay, the pediatricians say. Instead, children and teenagers should be drinking water, and lots of it. They also should be drinking two glasses of low-fat milk daily (lots of good protein, vitamin D, and calcium), and perhaps one or two glasses of juice. Benjamin says: “Other than that it’s water, water, water.”

I would always err on the side of caution – no energy drinks, soda or coffee for children. And, sports drinks in moderation, and if in doubt, then use the no sugar sports drinks.

Children have enough energy and really don’t need the sugar, citric acid and caffeine.

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Health

United States Poll Watch: Hawaiians Least Stressed

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According to the latest Gallup Poll.

Hawaiians were the least likely in the United States in 2010 to say they felt stressed for much of the previous day, at 30.2%. Residents of Utah were the most likely to report experiencing stress, at 45.1%, according to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index.

These state-level data are based on daily surveys conducted from January through December 2010 and encompass more than 350,000 interviews. Americans’ average stress level was 39.4% last year, similar to 2009 (39.9%) and 2008 (38.8%).

Hawaii has had the distinction of being the least stressed state for three years in a row. Utah and Kentucky have been among the top two most stressed states for the past three years.

Stress levels decreased at least somewhat for residents living in about half of the states in 2010. This is a positive turnaround from 2009, when residents’ stress levels increased in most states. See page 2 for results for all states by year.

And, it seems the most stressed Americans live in the West and the Northeast. Here is the graph:

The least stressed states graph is here:

What does this all mean?

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index state data underscore that stress is a complex emotion that is likely related to numerous life issues. States where residents have higher levels of stress differ from each other on various fronts: Some have more high-income residents, while others have more low-income residents. Some, like Utah and Massachusetts, have residents who boast great physical health, while others, like Kentucky and West Virginia, have residents who are in poor health. And in some of the high-stress states residents rate their lives highly — as in Connecticut, Utah, and Massachusetts — while in others, residents rate their lives at the lowest end of the scale, as in Ohio and Rhode Island.

That finances and health aren’t the only determinants of Americans’ stress levels reveals that earning more money or being in great physical shape doesn’t necessarily protect against all of life’s stressors. Family and career issues likely play a large role in individuals’ daily stress levels.

That stress levels did not increase much during the recession provides additional evidence that Americans’ definition of stress goes beyond economic experiences. Still, further investigation into what drives stress and how stress affects people is needed as nearly 40% of American adults consistently report experiencing it a lot of the day “yesterday.”

I can understand Hawaii but why would the Western States of the USA be more stressed than the Midwest?

It is probably due to economic uncertainty and the migration of manufacturing jobs overseas and to the Midwest and South.

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Diet

American Obesity More than Doubles Between Ages 18 and 30

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According to the latest Gallup Poll.

A leading cause of certain chronic conditions — obesity — surges in Americans’ 20s, more than doubling between the ages of 18 and 30. It peaks at about age 50 and remains prevalent among Americans in their 60s and early 70s before tapering off.

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index determines obesity on the basis of respondents’ self-reported height and weight, using traditional Body Mass Index (BMI) scoring. Across 2009 and 2010, an average 27% of Americans were obese, defined as having a BMI of 30 or higher.

Whether the decline in obesity later in life mostly reflects the higher mortality rate of obese people as they age or significant weight loss among seniors is not clear.

Younger Americans must make conscious lifestyle decisions to reduce their weight or they are setting themselves up or increasing rates of weight and diet-related chronic medical conditions later in their lives.

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