In nearly every major cause of premature death – from ischemic heart disease to diabetes to interpersonal violence – the United States trails its economic peers, according to research from a global collaborative of scientists led by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington (Washington, USA), Christopher Murray, IHME Director and lead investigator, and colleagues report in “The State of US Health, 1990-2010: Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors” a staggering toll of disabling conditions, and the overall burden on health systems from a range of fatal and non-fatal health factors. Since 1990, there has been a steady shift from conditions that shorten life to chronic disability from mental and behavioral disorders, musculoskeletal problems, and neurological conditions. Chronic disability in 2010 now accounts for nearly half of all health loss in the US. Mental and behavioral disorders alone make up 27% of what researchers call “years lived with disability,” meaning the time spent in less than optimal health. The biggest contributors are depression, anxiety disorders, drug use disorders, and alcohol use disorders. What is making the US less healthy than its peers? The researchers point to poor diet and inadequate physical activity as two of the driving forces. The US has a greater associated disease burden from diet than the average of its peer countries. Out of its 34 peer countries, the US ranked 27th in disease burden risk from dietary factors, 27th on high body mass index (BMI), and 29th on blood sugar. Warning that: “morbidity and chronic disability now account for nearly half of the US health burden,” the study authors warn that: “improvements in population health in the United States have not kept pace with advances in population health in other wealthy nations.”
