Our Future Health: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

What about the obvious connection to more heat stroke and dehydration.

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The link between higher gas prices and potentially lower obesity rates is starting to show signs in my area. As major consumers of fast food because of its lower cost, lower class individuals, who are most directly affected by higher gas prices, seem to be walking and riding bicycles more because they can't afford gas. Incidentally, these just so happen to be the same people who normally cannot afford health coverage to deal with the affects of poor diet and lack of exercise. It all makes sense to me, and I have actually been preaching the benefits of higher gas prices for the past couple of months now, noticing the subtle changes. When I moved to the area I live in, I was one of maybe 4 people using bicycles as a main form of transportation. After 6 months and a fifty cent increase in gas prices, I would now estimate at least 100 people regularly using bicycles to get around (I live in a small town).

The existing economic situation will definitely impact any plans either presidential candidate has to lower the number of Americans without health insurance. In recent years, health care reform has taken a front seat in the media, but with the combination of the stock market plunge, housing crisis and major job losses, there’s no doubt that those problems overshadow the millions of Americans with no or very health insurance.

As the government attempts to figure ways of bailout for the financial industry, which is absolutely necessary to keep the economy from going down under, I’ve heard nothing recently about a governmental bailout plan for the health care industry. Of course, the financial turmoil is important, but also are the 46 million Americans, including school-age children, that live without health insurance.

With millions of American household having employer-sponsored and affordable health insurance, the idea of families not having health care is hard to envision, and some don’t see it as a major problem. But because we all are impacted by gas prices, the Iraq war and the housing crisis-these things take precedent.

It’s really sad that health care isn’t taken as seriously as other major problems. The effects of not having adequate health care can be long lasting. For example, Black women are 67 percent more likely to die from disease, like breast cancer, because of issues related to not having access to screening, early detection and treatment, according to the American Cancer Society Inc.