If someone stepped into my shoes for a day as a nurse practitioner, the vision of needless suffering and impaired lives by two infamous health complications would haunt them. Heart disease and stroke survivors go through so much that the experience would not be easily forgotten.
I don’t dismiss these victims to noncompliance, but contemplate and actually investigate why in this country and foremost Delaware a rampant cardiovascular disease exists. A sedentary way of life and high fat, high sugar diets threaten to leave this young generation of Delaware kids, according to some projections, to have shorter life expectancies than their parents, for the first time in history.
It’s no secret really why this situation exists. The risk factors that 75 percent of the population faces are stark. I hope our business, government, and leaders from every sector make improving health and reducing overweight and obesity a priority and focus on what we can do to get people active.
This will ultimately reduce the suffering and costs I see each and every day, the unfortunate cumulative effects of many years of excess weight and lack of activity.
The Delaware Coalition for Healthy Eating, Active Living Coalition and The American Heart Association are working alongside to create a Delaware where healthy is the new normal.
Lynn Toth
Lewes
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