You’ve probably heard it both ways. More people are making healthier choices. More people are getting fat. Obesity is out of control. People aren’t as overweight as you think. So what’s REALLY going on? We took a look at some of the latest data about whether people in today’s society are actually living healthier than they have in the past. Red on to find out!
The Good:
Science is a wonderful thing. Advances in all areas of medicine have helped people all over the world live past the pathetic life expectancy they used to have. Even in 1950, the average life expectancy of a person on planet Earth was just 52, and in 2010 it had shot up to 70.
Better medical care (and more knowledge) about human health led to a drop in the number of people who died from disease like cancer.
Vaccines have all but eradicated some of the diseases that were considered a death sentence in past centuries. In the 1900s alone there were vaccines developed for measles, polio, meningitis and hepatitis.
The Bad:
With advances in things like medicine, there also come advances in technology, which means more and more people spend time sitting on computers or on phones. And with food production growing, more countries have access to all kinds of foods - including the ones that are bad for you. Chronic non-communicable disease like heart disease and diabetes have gone up all over the world in the last few decades.
This one is truly shocking. The number of adult people who are obese in developing countries (yes, that’s developing countries) has QUADRUPLED since 1980.
So What Does It All Mean?
Eliminating health issues that claim people’s lives far before their time is a huge accomplishment, but allowing people to live longer has a downside. People live longer with unfortunate conditions with their hearts, weight and even brain, which means that even though we’re all living longer lives, more and more of those long lives are being spent in poor physical health.
So What Do We Do?
Better health habits start at the beginning, with education. Check out all of Love With Food’s information on wellness and nutrition, and why not try one of our all-natural snack boxes. No artificial ANYTHING, ever.
