Public Health

The seasonal ritual of snow-shoveling carries with it broader and more significant public health risks than that of the proverbial aching muscles. Though many serious injuries, hospitalizations, and deaths result every year from shoveling in the United States, scarce attention is paid to proper rules of safety.

Obesity has long been a rising problem across the United States, and currently 35.7% of the adult population is obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Among all groups, non-Hispanic blacks have the highest obesity rates (49.5%); the next highest are Mexican Americans (40.4%), all Hispanics (39.1%) and non-Hispanic whites (34.3%).

According to 2012 estimates by the World Health Organization, as many as 34 million people globally are infected with HIV, a condition that causes progressive failure of the immune system.

According to U.S. government research on drug abuse, the number of people seeking treatment for painkiller addiction increased 400% from 1998 to 2008, and fatalities from prescription and illegal drug abuse now outnumber vehicle-related deaths in 17 states. Increases in certain crimes are also linked with prescription drug abuse, including theft, home invasions and assaults.

Substance among women has been shown to have high costs, yet intervention efforts continue to lag behind needs. To address this gap, researchers at Yale University and Washington University of St Louis conducted a randomized controlled trial of various types of health care interventions.

Historically, smoking and obesity have had the greatest impact on disease and mortality rates in the United States. However, the relative importance of the two factors, has evolved significantly in the past two decades.