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Schroeder’s article states that the reason why America ranks low despite the fact that a lot
of investment is put into the health care sector is because Americans receive treatment when it's
too late due to ignorant behavior by medical practitioners, they receive inadequate medical care
due to a number of factors such as lack of insurance, and they do not receive treatment at all. 1 In
addition, being healthy does not only involve medical care as other factors such as personal
behavior, which as Schroeder says that it may reduce the chances of death. Overlooking
education is detrimental as it is important. Education to only a small proportion of the society on
the importance of health care will be beneficial to only that small portion. Education to the whole
community will influence everyone's behavior and thus find the proper care of doctors and
nurses instead of self-medicating.
1 As stated by Schroeder in his article, tobacco has been said to be one of the ways of
battling obesity. Obesity and smoking have similarities and differences. Concerning the
similarities, tobacco is as addictive as food. Food is addictive, especially carbohydrates, which
lead one to obesity the same way tobacco leaves one with an overdependence on the drug, thus
becoming difficult to treat. The use of tobacco and becoming obese are prevalent and are more
likely to be observed in low socioeconomic classes and also in weak states. Smoking and obesity
are similar since they involve highly marketed and used products. The differences between
tobacco and obesity are ever so evident. Moderate eating is not harmful to the body. However,
the eradiction of smoking tobacco is less likekly as compared to the eating of food without
experiencing any hazardous impacts on the body, such as withdrawal symptoms. In regards to
medical treatment, there are more medical procedures used in treating addictive smoking than
there are for treating obesity. As the food industry's marketing styles have targeted children, it
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has been criticized for being exploitative due to it being elusive. Nevertheless, obesity is not
categorized the way tobacco is.
The health care perspective is reliant on the location to which a particular population is
based. The inner cities have more resources for health care, such as hospitals, but might not have
the ability to pay for the medical bills fully. The rural areas there are more sick people and deaths
in countryside areas. Behavioral patterns are more likely to change in the inner cities as
compared to the rural areas since information in the urban population in regards to food and
people is abundant.
Inner-city
Rural areas
Environmental exposure
15%
5%
Health care
10%
15%
Behavioral patterns
25%
15%
Social circumstances
20%
5%
Genetic preposition
20%
10%
Health care is essential for one to be healthy, but it is not the only factor that contributes
to the practice. Social determinants of health care assist people in making better decisions about
their health, what they eat, drink, and the activities they indulge in. Health disparities are often
socially determined. The social status of a person illustrates the type of care one might receive2.
For example, the sparse population is considered to be uninsured, thus, when they go to
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hospitals, either substandard care is given, or no care at all is offered. The role that the church
can play here is by building a community health center where no one is discriminated against
irrespective of one’s social status.
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References
1. Schroeder SA. We Can Do Better — Improving the Health of the American People. New
England Journal of Medicine. 2007;357(12):1221-1228. doi:10.1056/nejmsa073350.
2. Artiga S, Hinton E. Beyond Health Care: The Role of Social Determinants in Promoting
Health and Health Equity. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
https://www.kff.org/disparities-policy/issue-brief/beyond-health-care-the-role-of-social-
determinants-in-promoting-health-and-health-equity/. Published May 29, 2019.
