It’s time to change thinking in America.  So as we begin a new decade perhaps we should start the year off by revising the traditional greeting to “Healthy New Year” so we focus more attention on our health, which will likely make us happy, too!

While health is often included in many Americans resolutions, unfortunately, we’re not doing a very good job of improving it. It certainly isn’t due to lack of knowledge, in fact, most people probably feel inundated and overwhelmed by the abundance of health information. We know what we should do, we’re just not doing it, and it’s high time we recognize the ramifications of our choices or we’re headed for bigger problems than any scale can measure.

Obesity (defined as 30 pounds over a healthy weight) is out of control in this country -- we’ve doubled the obesity rates in our adult population over the last 25 years and tripled it among children in the last 30 years. It is now the single biggest reason for the increase in health care costs – to the tune of $147 billion spent in weight related medical bills in 2008, almost double the $74 billion spent in 1998. If we continue at this rate, in 10 years, it’s projected 43% of adults may be obese, and the annual medical-related expenses could be $344 billion or 21% of our total health-care spending.

But obesity is not just about taking a financial toll; it also takes a heavy toll on our health by increasing the rate of heart disease, cancer (over 100K new cancer cases are caused by obesity every year), diabetes, and a host of other health problems. Ultimately, however, all of these conditions have a significantly negative impact on a person’s quality of life, which may be the most important aspect of all. Quality of life should be our primary focus – being able to do the things we love with those we love makes us happy and is truly what life is all about. But rarely do we see studies that measure this, and perhaps it explains why we’re so disconnected from the effect these largely preventable medical conditions have on our lives.

We all remember the assault this country took to stop smoking. It was certainly effective, but apparently we just put down the cigarettes and picked up a fork because now we have a similar problem in a new arena. In fact, America’s obesity epidemic has become as big a threat to people’s health as smoking, according to a new Columbia University study. It’s being reported that the quality of life years lost as a result of obesity is now equal to, if not greater than those lost from smoking. In fact, in their study of 3.5 million U.S. adults during the period from 1993 to 2008, the proportion of smokers fell by 18.5%, while the proportion of obese people rose by 85%.  Smoking caused more deaths, but obesity caused more illness. And ultimately, living long with illness becomes both an economic and personal catastrophe.

Equally concerning to me as a gerontologist is the fact that for the first time EVER, actuaries project we are heading toward the reversal of life expectancy in this country, due to the poor lifestyle choices we are making. With all the advances in healthcare, diagnostics, technology, pharmaceuticals, etc. that have contributed to an ever increasing life expectancy, it’s unfathomable to think we value health so little that we’re not working with our healthcare system to improve our health, and instead are just annihilating our bodies and expecting the healthcare system to fix it – the pill for every ill mentality.

I’m all about quality of life, and as one who analyzes lifestyle trends, I’m fascinated by how we got into this mess in the first place. It’s not healthcare’s job to take care of us – it’s our job. But it’s beyond just healthcare I’m afraid. There are a number of factors contributing to America’s obesity epidemic -- from our convenience mentality in how and what we eat, to the low cost of unhealthy foods and the obnoxious increase in serving sizes, to the limited amount of movement we do from the increase in technology that results in more sedentary lifestyles. We’re also apparently really stressed out and unhappy in our jobs. According to a new study, Americans’ job satisfaction is the lowest level ever recorded, and has been on the decline for more than twenty years! Maybe the timing is a coincidence but it does coincide with this country’s increase in obesity -- and the economic reality of that may just be starting to weigh in. If the job satisfaction trend is not reversed, economists say it could stifle innovation and hurt America’s competitiveness and productivity. Already, of a comparison among the six top economies, the U.S. is in first place for leading obesity rates with 34%, followed by the U.K. at 24%, Germany 14%, France 11%, Italy 10%, and Japan 4%.

Maybe it helps to know we’re not alone in this effort. The Federal Government is very concerned about these issues and continues to take an active stand, going back to the 1970s when they established the Healthy People Project to set an agenda for getting Americans to live longer, healthier lives. This was the exact time I began my work in gerontology, inspired by the government’s position and interest to involve and inform the public that many health problems were preventable.

Interestingly enough, even after more than 30 years, the goals are still not well known among the public – in fact in the year 2000, a mere 24% of the measurable goals were met.

Bottom line, we’ve still got a lot of work to do in this country. Now it’s just a matter of whether people are willing to take self responsibility and change their thinking by taking an active role, literally, in improving their own health, their lives and perhaps even this economy as well.

So to make your year happy, have a Healthy New Year!

Kelly Ferrin, gerontologist and author of “What’s Age Got To Do With It? Secrets to Aging in Extraordinary Ways” has been studying aging and retirement issues for over 25 years. She was one of the first to ever receive a degree in this field from the prestigious Andrus School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California, the top school in the nation for age-related studies.

website: kellyferrin.com ••• email: ageangel@earthlink.net