Health and Wellness

The mental, physical and economic wellbeing of individuals and families across the United States is under tremendous threat from the devastating toll of preventable diseases. Over the course of the last few decades, the country’s landscape has changed so that people are eating more but exercising less; working harder but sleeping less; and drinking more beverages with high calories and sugar, but less water. All of this has added up to a dangerous equation with more than 70 percent of adults across the United States already being diagnosed with a chronic disease and more than 75 percent of the nation’s healthcare spending being spent on managing and treating these conditions. A Milken Institute analysis determined that treatment of the seven most common chronic diseases, coupled with productivity losses, costs the U.S. economy more than $1 trillion dollars annually. If these trends continue, Columbia University researchers project that there will be $48 - $66 billion added to current health care costs each year between now and 2030. Given the statistics, it is likely that everyone in the United States has at least one friend or family member who has experienced negative effects from a preventable disease.

Fortunately, solutions exist. Helping individuals and communities to take even small measures to improve their diet, physical activity levels, sleep amounts and water consumption, educating people on how to live healthier, will help change the course of millions of lives. By engaging individuals, schools, communities, and organizations to share their solutions to healthy living, over time, collective success will be scaled to a greater number of people. Any approach to eradicating chronic diseases like obesity and activating health for all ages must focus on scalable, systemic changes, as well as individual ones, and address all factors surrounding environments that affect a person’s life. For every dollar invested in prevention, approximately five dollars are saved and the benefits are many –more active and productive individuals across all generations who are able to contribute to healthier schools, communities, and workplaces across the United States.