American Twist: Heft and Long Life

Health news and indicators from various parts of the world

NOTHING DIFFERENT

PARIS

Gulf War combatants do not suffer more, or worse, psychiatric disorders than other veterans, even though many troops who fought in the 1991 conflict frequently complain of depression and other forms of mental ill-health.

    Researchers questioned Gulf veterans who had either suffered a physical disability, or none at all, in the war. They compared those responses with those from able-bodied veterans who had served elsewhere in the armed forces at the time of the Gulf War, and from disabled veterans of the Bosnian war in the mid-1990s.

    Twenty-four percent of disabled Gulf veterans had a formal psychiatric disorder, such as anxiety, depression, or an alcohol-related illness, and the rate among non-disabled Gulf veterans was 12 percent. Both rates were similar to non-Gulf veterans.

    "Most disabled Gulf veterans do not have a formal psychiatric disorder. Post traumatic stress disorder is not higher in Gulf veterans than in other veterans," the researchers wrote in the British Medical Journal.

    The authors from the Gulf War Illness Research Unit at Guy's King's, and St. Thomas's School of Medicine in London did not, however, write off as bogus or exaggerated the symptoms that are commonly reported by Gulf veterans.

    "Psychiatric disorders do not fully explain self-reported ill health in Gulf veterans," they say. "Alternative explanations for persistent ill health in Gulf veterans are needed."

15 MILLION VITAMIN A DEFICIENT

LAGOS

Vitamin A deficiency may result in more than 300,000 child deaths over the next 10 years in Nigeria if nothing is done about it, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned.

    Vitamin A deficiency affects "more than nine million children and six million mothers in Nigeria," UNICEF representative in Nigeria Christian Voumard said, describing it a serious health problem in Africa's most populous country.

    "It contributes to 25 percent of infant, child, and maternal mortality in Nigeria due to reduced resistance to protein-energy malnutrition, respiratory infections, malaria, diarrhea, and measles," he said.

    In September, Nigeria marked a milestone in its fight against vitamin A deficiency when flour millers began to fortify all flour produced in the country with the vitamin, the UNICEF said. Some vegetable oil and sugar manufacturers also have started fortifying their products, it added.

    Together with the fortification of foodstuffs, Nigeria has adopted two other strategies-large scale supplementation and dietary diversification-to combat vitamin A deficiency.

     The World Health Organization says vitamin A deficiency is the leading cause of preventable blindness in children and raises the risk of disease and death from severe infections.

LIVING LONGER BUT FATTER

WASHINGTON

Better health care has pushed US life expectancy to a record 76.9 years, despite obesity, substance abuse, and skyrocketing medical costs that continue to plague the nation, according to a 430-page annual overview of medical achievements and problems compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

    The report surveys trends in fighting illnesses and mortality going back to 1950, and examines where Americans get their health care and how much it costs.

    The average US man born in the year 2000 could expect to live 74 years while the average woman, almost 80. That is the longest life expectancy in US history, according to the report, which cites preliminary figures. By comparison, at the dawn of the 20th century, life expectancy was 48 years for men and 51 years for women. But overall mortality was one-third higher for blacks than for whites in 1999, the latest available figure.

    Homicide remained the leading cause of death for young black males and the second-leading cause of death for young Hispanic men. However, homicide rates among young black and Hispanic males aged 15 to 24 dropped almost 50 percent since the beginning of the 1990s.

    The infant mortality rate, which reflects deaths before the first birthday, has plummeted 75 percent since 1950 and stood at a record low of 6.9 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000, down from 7.1 deaths the year before.

    "Effective public health efforts, greater knowledge among Americans about healthier lifestyles, and improved health care all have contributed to these steady gains in the nation's health," said CDC director Julie Gerberding.

    But the study also sounded several alarms, noting growing obesity, continued smoking and substance abuse among serious health care hazards. An estimated 61 percent of adults living in the United States in 1999 were considered overweight, and one out of four outright obese.

    Moreover, almost 40 percent of those surveyed reported no engagement in any physical activity during leisure time, an indication that instances of heart disease and diabetes may be poised to rise in the near future. As many as 23 percent of adults were smokers in 2000, down from more than 40 percent in 1965.

    But the number of those addicted to cigarettes declined only slightly since 1990, despite the government-backed anti-smoking campaign and hefty price increases on tobacco products, the CDC noted.

    Alcohol consumption also remained heavy. Forty-eight percent of male and 19 percent of female current drinkers reported consuming five or more alcoholic drinks in a day on at least one day in 2000.

    Meanwhile, the cost of health care continued to rise, making access to it more difficult. Americans spent US$1.3 trillion, or 13.2 percent of gross domestic product, on it in 2000. A third of that amount was consumed by hospitals, while the cost of prescription drugs has been increasing 15 percent a year between 1995 and 2000.

    But public spending on health programs including Medicare and Medicaid programs for the elderly has shrunk, the 26th annual report by the federal government said. As a result, 95 percent of elderly people reported medical expenses averaging US$6,300 per person in 1998.

    In a separate study made public late October the CDC warned Americans that they are too big and getting bigger. The report said more than 30 percent of Americans are obese, dramatically higher than the last study in 1994. And as the waistline grows so does the country's medical bill, indicating that high wages that buy outsize portions of fatty food have become a recipe for disaster for American health.

    "The problem keeps getting worse," said Health Secretary Tommy Thompson commenting on the alarming figures. "We've seen virtually a doubling in the number of obese persons over the past two decades and this has profound health implications. Obesity increases a person's risk for a number of serious conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and some types of cancer," he added.

    The study tracked 4,115 adults from 1999 to 2000 and concluded that 30.5 percent suffered from obesity, compared with 22.9 percent from a similar study conducted between 1988 and 1994. The number of overweight Americans increased from 55.9 percent in 1994 to 64.5 percent. Extreme obesity is up from 2.9 percent to 4.7 percent, almost five in every 1,000 people in the US.

    The trend is hitting women worse than men, according to the CDC. Thirty-three percent of women were obese compared with 28 percent of men. Fifty percent of black women, 40 percent of Hispanic women, and 30 percent of white women were considered obese: those whose body mass index is 30 or above. Those with a rate to 29 are overweight while those considered of "ideal" weight generally have a body mass index of between 18.5 and 24.9.

    But the future does not look bright for the official battle against fat, in which even President George W. Bush has chided his population for their eating habits.

    Ten percent of children are overweight before the age of five, against seven percent in 1994, according to the study. "One of the most significant concerns from a public health perspective is that we know a lot of children who are overweight grow up to be overweight or obese adults," said Gerberding. Those children can already look forward to a future confronting heart disease and diabetes.

    Another CDC report said that 15 percent of children and teenagers from six to 19 were overweight.

    Adults and children are confronted with meals that are ever more fatty and already big portions are growing in fast food restaurants, which concentrate on sales figures rather than quality. A typical hamburger sold on a US main street contains about 600 calories, against an average 200 calories for a 1957 hamburger. Americans also consume an average 20 to 30 teaspoons of sugar per day in their drinks and food.

    Agriculture Department statistics have highlighted a daily rise of 500 calories in the average diet between 1994 and 2000. Americans eat almost twice as many more meals in restaurants than they did 20 years ago. The portions are richer and there is greater pressure to eat more eating out, say experts.

    Fast food restaurants in particular target those with eyes that are bigger than their stomachs. Burger chains now highlight maxi-meals for mini-prices. The quantity is only a marginal factor in the cost of the meal.