REPEATING HISTORIES 347- 31% of American adults are obese^6
- Roughly one in three youths in America (ages six to nineteen) is
already overweight or at risk of becoming overweight - About 105 million American adults have dangerously high choles-
terollevels^7 (defined as 200 mgldL or higher-heart-safe choles-
terollevel is under 150 mgldL) - About 50 million Americans have high blood pressures
- Over 63 million American adults have pain in the lower back
(considerably related to circulation and excess body weight, both
influenced by diet and aggravated by physical inactivity) during
any given three-month period^9 - Over 33 million American adults have a migraine or severe head-
ache during any given three-month period^9 - 23 million Americans had heart disease in 20019
- At least 16 million Americans have diabetes
- Over 700,000 Americans died from heart disease in 2000
- Over 550,000 Americans died from cancer in 2000
- Over 280 ,000 Americans died from cerebro-vascular diseases
(stroke), diabetes or Alzheimer's in 2000
At the great peril of ignoring the warnings of Plato and others, Amer-
ica has, in the words of Seneca, "anticipated death." Starvation, poor
sanitation and communicable diseases, symbols of impoverishment,
have been largely minimized in the Western world. Now we have an
urgency of excess, and some of the previously less developed countries
are racing to get where we are. Never before have such large percentages
of the population died from diseases of "affluence." Is this the affluence
that Socrates predicted 2,500 years ago-a society full of doctors and
lawyers wrestling with the problems caused by people living luxuri-
ously and eating cattle? Never before have so many people suffered such
high levels of obesity and diabetes. Never before has the financial strain
of health care distressed every sector of our society, from business to
education to government to everyday families with inadequate insur-
ance. If we have to decide between health insurance for our teachers
and textbooks for our kids, which will we choose?
Never before have we affected the natural environment to such an ex-
tent that we are losing our topsoil, our massive North American aqUifers,
and our world's rainforests.lO We are changing our climate so rapidly that
many of the world's best-informed scientists fear the future. Never before