This is so surprising. I wonder if its because you have national healthcare, so anything that isn't caused by choices of the person him/herself gets prevented. I know that here in the US choices made for food/alcohol consumption and level of physical activity are huge contributors to health outcomes also, as I imagine they would be anywhere, but there are still so many illnesses unrelated to this that progress that could have been nipped in the bud with earlier diagnosis. And in some parts of the world, there is so much poverty and lack of healthcare that major diseases still are rampant, and so this kills people younger than "lifestyle choices" ever could.
Actually, back when I was a kid (and my parents before me) one benefit of growing up poor was that you wound up eating a lot of home cooked meals. A lot of veggies grown in the backyard and rice and potatoes. We got to go for fast food once a week and that was a real treat. Other than that, it was all healthy food simply because that was the cheapest food. Now the "cheap processed food" industry has taken over, and even "home cooked" really means fast food these days.
A big problem is people abdicating responsibility and relying on the system for decisions and not even asking information.
People have a bizarre disconnect. They only see something as toxic or life-threatening if it kills them on the spot. And if other people do it in large numbers 'it must be safe'. And we are most of us eating a ton of poorly nourishing, highly processed food that has been sold to us with a lot of clever advertising.
However, I'm NOT for nanny state tactics for turning this around. It will turn around eventually and it is very sad that it is the poorer folks who will join the turn around late. I like the efforts of people like Jamie Oliver and Joe Wicks in the UK. They are working hard to educate and encourage people ... not to patronise them and legislate to control their behaviour.
Good comment I agree basically!
Posted using Partiko Android
Actually good point - the report did say this does reflect better survival rates for diseases such aas cancer.
On the poverty and diet front - it doesn't cost much to eat well you're right. I think the poor diets are more due to the poor education and low status which tend to be correlated with low income.
Posted using Partiko Android