Skip to main content

Chronically Miscalculating with Pandemic Math: USA ≠ Sweden

There has been a lot of talk about using the “Swedish model” to more aggressively “re-open” the US economy.  We have to be realistic about what we can learn from a country as different as Sweden: it’s a bit like comparing a fast-food drive-thru to a smorgasbord.  

 For example, only about 20% of Americans are active in sports compared to about half of Swedes--this has a huge impact on underlying health, but unfortunately we are a long way from closing that gap.

We have known for months--and was anyone really surprised?-- that underlying chronic disease appears to dramatically increase COVID-19 hospitalization & mortality.  Per OECD data, the USA has 2x worse diabetes prevalence than Sweden, and is 1.5x Sweden on overweight/obesity (undoubtedly even worse, when severity of obesity is considered). 

In addition, Sweden has greater public trust in government & therefore more voluntary policy compliance. 

Sweden has also had a 5x higher pandemic death rate than several of its Scandanavian neighbors. So there is a major price to pay with that model--at least short-term.

 The fatal bottom line: If the USA seeks rapid COVID-19 "herd immunity," as Sweden is doing, it would be even deadlier here--because such a high percentage of our children and adults are unhealthy already--and particularly vulnerable to bad coronavirus outcomes.

Let’s face it:  we have put our own people at risk through 40+ years of inaction on unhealthy habits.  Until we do MUCH MORE with prevention, and develop a more active population with healthier nutrition, the USA will continue to be a world leader in chronic disease & health costs. We will remain highly vulnerable to unexpected acute health crises, including novel viral epidemics--and related financial side-effects.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is it a “Miracle Drug”?...if it Costs a Fortune and Creates Lifelong Dependency...&...Saggy Faces!?

[It’s been a while since our last blog post.  A lot has happened since– including some “miracles” ! So we’re going to do two posts in a row…] Normally we should all be happy about miracle drugs... shouldn't we ? Yes, there is lots of upside from taking semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy), tirzepatide (Montjaro)--and upcoming new, even-more-miraculous drugs TBD:  losing huge amounts of weight quickly, a much lower risk of diabetes–and probably less heart disease and other chronic conditions as well.  But what if the “miracle” requires:   $200-300/week, with a lifetime cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars…  a drug that you can never quit…because if you stop taking it, you gain back all the weight it helped you lose–not to mention the chronic diseases which the drugs kept at bay… and it leaves your face (and the rest of your skin?) sagging …    (plus, it’s so new at such high dosages– who knows what happens after years of use…? ) No doubt, in spit...
4 comments
Read more

Urban food myth #1: it costs more to eat healthy than to eat fast food

I get so tired of hearing this: "It costs less to buy a burger from McDonald's that to eat healthy food from the supermarket." "Low-income families just buy processed food, they don't cook their own food anymore." That always sounded questionable.  Here is a study showing in great detail that fast food is much more expensive than healthy food bought at the supermarket . Also, it turns out that the vast majority of meals eaten by low-income families are prepared at home: Blisard N, Stewart H. How low-income households allocate their food budget relative to the cost of the Thrifty Food Plan. Economic research report, United States. Washington, DC: Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, 2006;20. What is true is that buying healthy vs. unhealthy foods can cost $1.50/person/day more, at retail prices.  However, when health cost consequences are factored in, unhealthy foods cost twice as much .
2 comments
Read more

GenZ Sue Boomers Over Health?!

We don’t usually think of Germans as being litigious--but desperate situations breed desperate measures.  The youth of Germany just won a major legal victory , in which they sued the government, dominated by older Germans such as Chancellor Merkel, over climate issues.  Younger Germans allege that those in power are not doing enough to prevent a future climate catastrophe, which would harm today’s youth much more than today’s elderly--who will be long dead by the time the full force of climate change hits Germany. Which makes me wonder: what if GenZ-ers and Millennials sued our ruling-class Boomers over their gross neglect of youth health?   Our older generations have allowed younger generations to develop epidemic levels of chronic disease. Across the country, our “leaders” wantonly permitted schools to slash physical & health education & recess.  This has been a major factor in today’s pervasive child inactivity, obesity & unfitness--inevitably lea...
1 comment
Read more