M3.2 Vulnerable Populations

Focusing on sedentary lifestyles and diets when addressing obesity in the U.S. is more of an individual approach rather than a pubic health approach to a ubiquitous public health issue as it shifts the accountability 100% to the individual. If the European union has policies and regulations that require testing products prior to making them available to consumers, it is incomprehensible why the U.S.A does not have such a system.

Dr. Rishi Manchanda’s ted talk on “What makes us get sick?” proposes are more holistic approach to the social determinants of health by emphasizing the safety of living and working conditions. He stresses the importance of seeing the patient as a whole, thus also weighing as much importance on living and working conditions as health issues. Healthcare culture needs to change from a “don’t ask and tell” system to a more inclusive system that addresses social conditions.

In the video “Little Things Matter,” environmental pollutants such as mercury, lead, op pesticides, PCBs and BPA are attributed to neurotoxicity and developmental issues in exposed children. Although all these toxins occur in low levels among the exposed, even at low levels they can be bioactive and can have negative health outcomes such as decreased intellectual levels.

  

Our economy and society is addicted to industrialization, capitalism and consumerism that it neglects public safety. Food packaging is the largest source of exposure to BPA. BPA has been linked to endocrine disruption and cancers, which are chronic diseases. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found BPA in the urine of more than 90 percent of Americans sampled. In 2009, tests commissioned by EWG found BPA in the umbilical cords of nine of 10 infants sampled. The most vulnerable populations are those who often do not have choices, such as fetuses and children. Despite the mounting evidence of BPA's health risks at very low doses, federal regulation is lagging. EWG urges regulators and lawmakers at the state and federal levels to regulators, federal and state lawmakers to look at the evidence and reassess BPA's use in the U.S. food supply.