Wednesday, April 9, 2008
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be releasing a new
study tomorrow that shows that the gap between deaths due to poor diet
and physical activity and those due to smoking has narrowed
substantially. This study, Actual Causes of Death in the United
States, 2000, will be published in the March 10 issue of the Journal
of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The new study updates an
earlier JAMA study published in 1993.
The study provides a snapshot of the current health of the nation.
More importantly, the study's findings provide a troubling glimpse of
an ongoing health care crisis in smoking, poor nutrition and physical
inactivity, which are preventable behaviors that are significant
contributors to cancer, heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
The study is based on data gathered through the Behavioral Risk Factor
Surveillance System (BRFSS) and the National Health and Nutrition
Examination Survey (NHANES.) State-specific data for behavioral
health risks in all 50 states can be found on CDC's BRFSS website at:
http://www.cdc.gov/brfss/index.htm
To obtain an abstract of the Actual Causes of Death in the United States,
2000, visit JAMA's web site at www.jama.ama-assn.org. Abstract
posting will occur tomorrow after 4:00 p.m. (ET). For more information
on CDC's program efforts, including tobacco control, nutrition,
physical activity, and other health behaviors and prevention
strategies, visit CDC's web site at www.cdc.gov.