Disease-Driven Earnings: Is It Time for a New Prescription for "Generation Rx"?

Today's headlines are enough to make any mother wary. As we battle our toddlers in the grocery store, we hardly have the energy left to decipher the headlines: Organics aren't healthier, death panels await health care reform, bankers receive record bonuses, swine flu pandemics swirl . What has happened to the world that our children are inheriting? And does anyone care?

Perhaps we should. Because the children of today represent the economy of tomorrow. Today's parents and grandparents are raising the "think tanks" that are going to be the solutions to tomorrow's problems . Today's children will reinvent energy technology, redefine reform and regulations and enhance agricultural productivity in ways that we can not even begin to imagine. But only if we give them the tools with which to do it.

Obama insisting on school and education, with the support of Laura Bush, is a start. But more fundamentally, what about health? Today, 1 in 3 American children now has autism, allergies, ADHD or asthma. 90% of the worlds ADHD medications are prescribed to the American kids, while the US only represent 5% of the world's population. According to MSNBC, sales of EpiPens are up, while test scores are down. And according to the Centers for Disease Control, 1 in 2 African American kids and 1 in 3 Caucasian kids born in the year 2000 (that is this year's 4th Graders) will be insulin dependent by the time they reach adulthood.

And while Kraft, Coca Cola and Wal-Mart formulate their products differently for children overseas (with reduced fat, salt and synthetic ingredient content), our National School Lunch Program continues to be a dumping ground for the remnants of the agrichemical corporations who are unable to dispose of their technology laced corn and soy in grocery stores, restaurants or to the livestock industry. And while we allocate $600 billion to the Pentagon in 2009, we only allocated $9 billion to the National School Lunch Program and a meager $2.4 billion to the FDA.

And we wonder why our children have earned the title "Generation Rx" or why our economy is heaving under the burden of health care costs.

According to the World Health Organization, the US ranks 37th out of 40 countries (on par with Slovenia) in terms of "health care". According to the American Cancer Society, the US has the highest rate of cancer of any country in the world, with migration studies showing that if you are to move here from somewhere like Japan, your likelihood of developing cancer increases four-fold.

We've done a lousy job of preventing illness in our country. And while that's been good for Big Pharma, the costs being born by the majority of American citizens now far outweigh the benefits being reaped by a few corporate ones.

As we watch family members suffer from diabetes, cancers and asthma, it raises the question: Why? Why are these conditions often referred to as "American epidemics" in international publications like The Economist? Why does health care spending consume over 16% of our economy here in the US, while its associated economic burden in France is closer to 8%? Why does Starbucks spend more on health care than it does on coffee?

The reasons? There are many. But perhaps the most differentiating is that in our country, sickness sells. With Money Driven Medicine, there is little incentive to prevent illness. Sickness is good for business. Disease enhances earnings. So if the processed food we buy in Aisle 9 contains ingredients linked to hyperactivity in children, then rather than ban the use of that synthetic ingredient and insist on the use of a more natural alternative, as countries around the world have done, we simply have to walk a few aisles over in the grocery store to pick up our ADHD medicines from Aisle 2.

And our economy hums along. Or does it?

In 1946, Harry Truman said, "A nation is only as healthy as its children". And 50 years ago, we paid close heed, reaping the rewards of today's Bill Gates and Meg Whitmans. Thirty years ago, we were still paying attention, as evidenced by today's Mark Zuckerbergs and Sergey Brins.

But what about tomorrow? Given that our future productivity, economic viability and financial stability are contingent on the health of today's children, perhaps we should pause and consider the seeds that we are sowing with "Generation Rx" .

And if you are inclined, you can Do Something about it and be part of the solution.

Comments

[RaisingAwareness]

Great points Robyn and I think you've also come up with some great solutions to these problems.

[steppenwolfsayshi]

This is a great article. Since I starting eating organic, I saw a lot of improvement in my autommine disease and the number of infections I get from my immunosuppressive medication. I am able to take less medicine because my condition is better managed and that is soooo much better for my long term health. I agree it is ridiculous that it should be so much work to find healthy food. We are being cheated by our government when they fill our stores with food that no one should eat, very least children who are the most sensitive to chemicals and bad nutrition.

[Robyn O'Brien - Huffpost Blogger]

The industry funded experts in our country would say that it is "irresponsible" to suggest that diet modification could contribute to the improved health that you have experienced (as occurred when Good Morning America ran our story in March of 2009 as seen at www.allergykids.com!). What those same docs fail to disclose is that they often serve on the speakers' bureaus for Big Pharma or have testified to the safety of chemical additives for Big Food as I share in THE UNHEALTHY TRUTH. Which makes it all the more important that you share your success story with others and be the change, because our voices are up against some Big Money!

[DianeJStandiford]

As long as healthy food is more expensive than unhealthy food, we will continue on this sorry road for our children and ourselves. We are only as strong as our weakest link. The weak links are poor and less educated. They will eat what they can afford. Additives must be stopped. But even the educated want their food fast, in go additives. Too tired to fix dinner? Pop in a frozen meal. We are so consumed with making money, we have less time to grow and consume pure food. Exercise? We should hang our heads, houses need repair, lawns need mowed, seniors/disabled need physical help---instead the well-off join a gym, the working stiffs sit at desks---if you are sweating on the job you are chowing down on as many empty calories as you can get.

WHAT we value is all mixed up. We need to change the way we think about how we will spend our life because we will spend it working for drug money to make us feel good, when feeling good starts with how we value our time and our fellow human beings. It starts with adults and trickles down to our children. A healthy life begins with giving our time to others without expecting money in return. The less we THINK about food--the better. Our moral compass is left at the door of a church. It belongs in our pocket. COME ON PEOPLE! It is up to us.

[Robyn O'Brien - Huffpost Blogger]

Perhaps we could all sit down at the kitchen table at the White House and discuss our budget. At the federal level, we allocate taxpayers dollars to subsidize the growing of crops laced with chemicals, while at the same time, we don't provide those same resources to farmers growing crops without chemicals while also charging them extra fees to prove that their crops do not contain these chemicals in their products (and then, the farmers are charged a fee to then label their products as free of these chemicals (or "USDA organic").

Wouldn't it make more sense to use our taxpayer dollars to subsidize the cleaner crops, so that they are the cheaper and more affordable to all families? As in other developed countries around the world? Perhaps, then we would be like other countries, who don't call it "Organic Food", they simply call it "Food". And the food products containing the chemicals are what are labeled.

[LauraKlein]

I couldn't agree with you more Robyn. The real cost of cheap food is America's health crisis with obesity, diabetes, cancer, ADD, ADHD, autism, food allergies, heart disease and more!

Making farmers and consumers pay more for real food that isn't laced with GMO'd ingredients, additives, preservatives, dyes, high fructose corn syrup, aspartame and more is ridiculous. And food labeling laws that have emerged in the US are backwards. The Farmers who are growing the real food without chemicals need our help.

We can all make a difference simply by simply making different choices at the check out. We can all start by adding a few more truly natural and organic foods to our grocery cart every time we grocery shop. What we've forgotten is one of the most powerful healing tools we have on this planet are real natural and organic foods. Think of all the stories you've heard of someone who was very ill or just plain obese. Many times these people simply switched to real natural and organic foods to heal themselves.

We can start by committing to buying the foods we eat the most, truly natural and organic like milk, eggs, meat. Start shopping at your local farmers markets and supporting our local economy and agriculture! We can start buying in season organic fruits and veggies that are very affordable! We can eat out less at least one night per week! We can take our lunches to work. Small changes add up to big change!

[Robyn O'Brien - Huffpost Blogger]

There is so much that we can do to affect remarkable change. All of us are good at something and all of us are passionate about something. When we combine those things together, sparks can fly, as evidenced by the amazing things that all of you are accomplishing. Thank you for the work that you are doing!

[Janice Taylor]

Robyn, Thank you for taking the lead and getting the word out.
This is a topic that must be addressed. I'm with you.

Janice

[lewis perkins]

Robyn, excellent article. This is one of the most important topics of our day - right up there with conservation our non-renewable resources. And humanity is going to be a non-renewable resource if we don't collectively make changes to the food industry and the impact on the health of our Nation.

[Robyn O'Brien - Huffpost Blogger]

Perhaps, as you highlight, we might suggest to our leaders that we approach health and th health of our families with this same angle: "conservation of our non-renewable resources".

[AmyZBoulder]

Excellent article, Robyn. Thanks for shedding light on the dangers ahead for US children. I'd like to see new schools built with gardens and existing schools retrofitted with them.

[Robyn O'Brien - Huffpost Blogger]

It would be wonderful if we could allocate federal taxpayer dollars to this, given that we allocated $600 billion of our federal taxpayer dollars to the Pentagon in 2009, yet only $9 billion to the National School Lunch Program. While we spend hundred of millions protecting ourselves from the outside in, we fall woefully short on protecting ourselves from the inside out.