The Center for Disease Control and Prevention tells us1:
• 70% of all deaths in America are attributable to chronic disease
• Chronic disease causes disabilities for almost 1 out of 10 Americans
• Chronic diseases are the most common, costly and preventable diseases
• Chronic diseases are diseases of Lifestyle!
An October 2007 study published in the journal Health Affairs tells us that Americans have more chronic disease than any country in the world.
The higher U.S. disease rates contribute up to $150 billion in annual health care spending2 …all a result of preventable, diseases of lifestyle!
Walter Willett, PhD, MD of the Harvard School of Public Health stated in the journal Science:
“…we have been able to identify modifiable behavioral factors, including specific aspects of diet, overweight, inactivity, and smoking that account for over 70% of stroke and colon cancer, over 80% of coronary heart disease, and over 90% of adult onset diabetes3.”
What can Corporate America do to protect their own bottom line as well as the future of healthcare in our country? A recent Miami Herald article by Michael Critelli states:
“…A review of 73 published studies by Steven Aldana, a professor at Brigham Young University, found that companies engaged in work-site health promotion averaged a savings to cost ratio of $3.50 for every $1.00 invested in prevention. Another evaluation, which appeared in The American Journal of Health Promotion, found a 28 percent reduction in sick-leave absenteeism and a 26 percent reduction in healthcare costs in companies with established work-site health-promotion programs.”
1Chronic Disease Prevention – Centers for Disease Control & Prevention Web site; http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/
2Differences In Disease Prevalence As A Source Of The U.S.-European Health Care Spending Gap: Health Affairs 26, no. 6
(October 2, 2007): w678-w686
3Walter Willett, MD; Science 2002: 296, 695-697
