The Cost of Healthy Living

[YankeeBeckham]

Good health should certainly not be a luxury of the wealthy, but it seems to me that the steps one needs to take to maintain a healthy lifestyle can be rather expensive at times. For instance, eating healthily is common advice for healthy living, yet healthier foods such as fresh fruits and vegatable are undeniably more expensive than other foods. I think obesity has become such a problem because not only is there unhealthy food available, but one can buy copious amounts of it for little money. Getting a lot of food for cheap is an important drawing point, especially if one is just trying to cover the basic necessities. I think this unacceptably divides up health on a socio-economic level between those who can afford good health and those who cannot. Meanwhile, we advocate regular screenings and preventitive care as the best medicine, but at the same time emergency rooms are increasingly being used as primary care facilities. Is it possible to maintain a healthy lifestyle on a severely limited budget? I don't know how to rationalize or justify healthcare as a consumer commidity, and if current trends prevail the problem is only going to worsen. Surely solid, universal healthcare falls under the Lockean/Jeffersonian belief of the inalienable of life. While we are wedded to the ideals of capitilism, offering medical care as a relatively inelastic consumer commodity sets the consumer to be taken advantage of by either forcing him to make huge sacrifices by paying inexorbitant fees or by asking him to jeopardize his health when the finacial strain becomes an impossible burden to bear. And this is in a system in which the wealthier are more able to afford medical care, while those with less money are forced to pay more because of their lack of health insurance. I don't understand the national governmental policy in which public education is free and compulsury, but the inalienable right to life is not being fulfilled when healthcare decisions are being made by a cost/benefit analysis. Are we so wedded to the idea of the American Dream and the ideal of social mobility that free education is granted so that the grand illusions of America as the land of opportunity can be maintained? Why must our parents be the sacrifical lambs, dying of treatable, preventable diseases while we go to school so we can hopefully afford a healthly life for our children? Why can't we have both? It just seems to be an awfully backwards way of doing things.

[Dr. Joshua]

Interesting thoughts, YankeeBeckham, and surely many important questions that we don't seem to be able to answer satisfactorily. Good health is indeed not available for all; even in socialized healthcare systems such as those in Scandinavia, where healthcare is equally available for all, health seems not to be; socioeconomic factors still divide people to the haves and have-nots in this respect. The reasons are complex; but the lesson learned is that even public education will not have a marked effect, and equal distribution of healthcare, while it helps, is not a package solution to the problems you mentioned. The foundations of health lay deep within the network of genetic, social, economic, and cultural influences. For instance; exercise costs nothing - yet it is known that those with a higher household income are more likely to exercise regularly, and we know that regular exercise is one of the key elements of good health. On the other hand, alienation due to such reasons as unemployment, and also disillusionment due to poor job satisfaction, low salary, and the lack of social safety net are some of those factors that predispose to poor health.

[Purple98Lady]

Very good points and while I don't have the answers, nor our govenment we are at best trying to remain healthy with or without health insurance. As YankeeBechham mentioned just grocery shopping for healthy items, organic and fresh foods and the like all cost more. Many people because of socioeconomic reasons have to make the decision to eat for less, including foods that just aren't good for you on a regular basis because they stretch their bucks.They cant afford the luxury of variety. Alot of children are born into proverty/low income families and learn this from very young. Even with public education in diet,exercise and the many free accommodies in food and preventive health care (most cases only for their children) they remain in the struggle for emancipation often with out the formal education to obtain better paying jobs.
There are also people who have good paying jobs, 2 and 3 in a household that struggle to keep health insurance and also find it hard with the prices to eat and remain healthly. Often people lose their higher paying jobs because of downsizing/ or a health related problem, and because of their assets do not qualify for any help at all. While they maybe were healthy and had the means even if a struggle they now face stretching their bucks as well even knowing the proper health strategy beforehand.
Many elderly face even more tragedy sometimes with moderate health insurance plans are forced to pay so much out of pocket expenses for medications/deductibles etc., it deletes their savings /retirements, and threatens their very exsistance. Often times their social network is their families if they are lucky enough to have one that can help or will.
So in the land of the free we still are not equal in our options. This is the big debate and many don't know the answer. I don't know if socialized medicine is the answer, as I'm sure it too has problems with freedoms to choose and waiting lists to be seen.
With managed care and HMO's (for profit) you are unfortunately reduced to an ICD9 code, if its not the right one you get no treatment and your dr doesn't get paid. So sometimes dr can't even do what they would like to do for the patient because of this. My god there are even health insurance companies that try to attract a healthy population instead of the high risk ages etc. We have case managers within these health care providers, that arent even professional medical persons authorizing or not your medical testing and surgeries.We wont even go towards hospitals, because if the condition can be treated at home with home nursing, you won't see the inside of a hospital for many things.
While in a rural town in the south, I noticed that while they had a state run program for childrens health care and many were on it thank god for their childs sake, the adults had no options and many were living , dying with treatable illnesses,they had not the option of care, untill it was chronic and they walked into the emergency room often too late, not to mention most of the adults dental conditions was horrific.
You name it we have it here.

Purple98Lady

[jasmine9]

Well yea u are rite ....Probably the most important thing in live is good health. Without good health we may experience debilitating diseases and an unnecessarily short life span. It's fairly easy to achieve good health, but it involves certain changes in your life style that are sometimes difficult to do at first. The most important to remember is to begin slowly and try to make small changes at first.

The most important facet of good health is adequate exercise. Exercises help us achieve good health by strengthening our cardio-vascular system, strengthening our muscle mass and reducing the affect of stress on the body. To ensure that exercises do not appear to be chores, it is best to find exercises that you enjoy doing rather than those that you dread. For those who prefer to be outdoors, trekking, hiking, jogging or running may be the appropriate exercise to take up. On the other hand, for those who enjoy swimming, membership to a local pool may be the answer.

There are many alternative forms of exercise that you may find beneficial. Yoga is a very popular form of exercise that helps to strengthen your body, helps you lose weight, and is great as a stress reliever. Pilates is also very poplar and deals with the core strength of your abdominals. No matter what your interests are, you are sure to find an exercise that interests you.