HEALTHY PEOPLE 2010: Feds Propose Uniform Goals
Wanting to set "the same goals for everyone" under the standards established by the Healthy People 2000 initiative, the federal government has "set the ambitious goal of making African Americans and other minorities as healthy as whites by 2010," the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Previously, the government "set lower health goals for minorities, because they were behind to begin with." Surgeon General David Satcher, in Chicago yesterday for a hearing on the goals, said achieving health parity between whites and minorities is "not going to be easy." Among the African American population, infant mortality rates are 2 1/2 times higher than for whites, and the group has higher rates of diabetes, heart disease and prostate cancer. Asians and Latinos also have much higher incidence of some cancers than whites. Satcher noted, however, that 60% of the governments's goals for 2000 will be met. Final goals for 2010 are expected to be released next year.
Setting The Course
Here is a sample of some of the government's proposed goals for 2010:
- Exercise: Increase from 23% to 30% the number of adults who "do 30 minutes of physical activity a day."
- Diet: Increase from 40% to 75% the proportion of "people over age 2 who eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day."
- Infant Mortality: Decrease the mortality rate from 7.6 per 1,000 live births to 5.
- Breast-feeding: Increase from 60% to 75% the percentage of mothers who breast-feed.
- Smoking: Reduce the percentage of adult smokers from 25% to 13%.
- Dental Health: Reduce from 33% to 20% the proportion of those over 65 who have lost all their teeth (Ritter, 11/6).