The Mexican Economy: The Impact Of Diabetes

The incidences of diabetes are growing annually, and predicted to increase within the coming decades. The number of cases yearly is not only increasing, but the age of onset for diabetes has decreased. This means more individuals are developing diabetes at an earlier age. Diabetes not only affects individuals and communities but countries as well. The prevalence of diabetes has gathered billions of dollars in healthcare costs. [1]Type 2 diabetes also leads to other serious medical conditions such as heart disease, renal failure, blindness, and tissue damage in extremities that will eventually lead to amputation. These illnesses, as a result, result in further costs in the form of disability and the loss of a portion of our workforce. However, incidences of type 2 diabetes are in higher occurrence amongst Hispanic groups. According to the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, Mexican Americans have an unusually high prevalence of diabetes compared to that of the general population [2]. Hispanic females have the highest lifetime risk of becoming diabetic – 52% [3], compared to that of the average risk of

With obesity rates increasing at an exponential rate, a tax on fat foods and specifically high sugar beverages of 20% or about 1 cent per ounce could reduce obesity rates by 3.5%, bringing the rate down to 30% among adults (Kalaidis). While 3.5% may not sound like a lot, if you take an approximate U.S. population of 350 million people, suddenly that mere 3.5% turns into over 12 million Americans who would no longer be considered obese. Marion Nestle, a well-respected expert in food policy, recently conducted a study investigating the impact of a junk food tax through predictive modeling. Her study revealed that 2,600 deaths, 9,500 heart attacks, and 240,000 new cases of diabetes could be prevented with a simple 1 cent per ounce tax on sugary beverages (Satran). A junk food tax of this kind could greatly increase the health of the American public as a whole by reducing death rates and healthcare

“ We have become a fast food Nation of bulging waistlines and high blood pressures.”,said Ronnie Cummins in his article, “ Tax on Junk Food Can Help Pay the Costs of Diet-Related Diseases.” Diet related obesity,diabetes and heart diseases are now USA’s number 1 public health problems because of non-healthy foods,this is why there should be a tax on junk food,why we should serve healthier lunches in school cafeterias ,and why we should restrict advertisements of junk foods in the mass media.Would taxing junk food ,eating healthier ,and restricting junk food advertisements be so bad if you thought about how many people it could save?

Various regions of the world have different responses to the issue of obesity. Some cultures view obesity as necessary and attractive while others are taking drastic measures in an attempt to promote a healthy lifestyle. Although some of these drastic changes seem a bit invasive and controversial, policy makers are debating whether it is effective and even whether or not such a policy should be adopted in the United States. According to the article written by Gallagher, a culture sensitive approach should be implemented in order to tackle the issue of global obesity. A study of children of Mexican descent showed that about 32.6% of Mexican children occupying the U.S. are overweight and about 19.2% are obese (Gallagher 2010). The parents observed in this study were serving their children unhealthy foods, such as those from cans and fast food restaurants, due to price and convenience (Gallagher 2010).

The healthcare policies in Mexico and the United States are similar in that both healthcare systems utilize a combination of public and private insurance (freecontentweb.com). Healthcare has rapidly become an important topic in many countries. This comparison will focus on similarities in healthcare reform, healthcare insurance availability, healthcare access, and healthcare cost of both countries. Prior to healthcare reform in the US and Mexico, millions of people did not have access to health care due to the cost and lack of insurance. Healthcare reform was established to improve the accessibility, affordability, and quality of health care in both countries. Even though health care reform made insurance coverage available in both the private and public sector, access of care is limiting. As a result, patients find it difficult to get appointments when they need care. In addition, many patients continue to struggle with the cost of healthcare. Although both countries have some similarities related to healthcare, obvious differences exist.

There are several different types of diabetes, the 6 week intervention program that I have created focuses on type 1 and 2 diabetes in the Hispanic community. Type 1 is when the pancreas does not produce insulin by its self and the patient may have to take insulin shots. Type 2 is when the body has problems breaking down the blood glucose or sugar.

These include hospital stay and the high rate of readmission to hospital for screening and due to complications. Medications for the patients also contribute significantly to diabetes management since the drugs are prescribed for maintenance of the condition and thus need to be taken regularly. Inpatient visits to the hospital is the leading value of cost in the management of the disease (American Diabetes Association, 2013). The people who have diabetes are sicker and weaker when compared to the general population. The cost of their health care spending is also higher than the cost for healthy individuals. On the view of indirect costs due to diabetes, there are several conditions that lead to an increase in expenditure of the patients. For instance, the likelihood of developing disabilities due to complications as a result of diabetes is quite high. The workforce is therefore negatively affected and leads to a decline in the economy of the country. Out of all the deaths reported in the year 2012, the number in which diabetes was named as the primary cause amounted to 30% diabetes (American Diabetes Association, 2012; National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2014; American Diabetes Association, 2013). The premature deaths due to diabetes led to loss of income and loss of productivity in the country. The public therefore needs to be educated to reduce this cost as it is shown that the cost of managing diabetes is reduced when the patient has enough information about the condition. For instance, persons with better glycemic control have low levels of developing complications and report a decrease in visits to a doctor with those with uncontrolled diabetes having to visit the hospital three to eight times more (Handelsman et al.,

70% of Mexicans are overweight while 32.8% of them are obese. 1 out of every 6 Mexicans adults suffer from weight related chronic diseases such as diabetis, heart disease and certain cancers.

Obesity is a continuing problem in the American society. Obesity, occurs when, the amount of energy taken is more than the energy released (Abraham 237). The growing obesity rates could be slightly declined by the availability of more affordable, healthier foods and the decline of these temporary quick fit diets, many Americans put themselves on as a means to get fit. The opposing viewpoint may suggest that obesity can be fixed simply by shopping for better, healthier food choices in grocery stores and learning how to count calories to maintain a healthy weight; but that simple solution may not be an achievable solution for every American. Furthermore, the difference of cost between healthy compared to unhealthy foods is completely outrageous. Numberless people strive to go into a grocery store and select all of the healthy food options of their liking; however, healthy food options cost more and are seemingly unaffordable compared to junk food. The government should regulate the prices of junk and healthy food as a means to combat obesity in America, so that all persons can achieve good health.

Mexico and the United States have each adopted a goal to provide the best possible, health care for all citizens. With this in mind, each country has identified a different approach to reaching this goal. A discussion of similarities and differences are addressed in the following paragraphs as well as an explanation of why different approaches exist.

Who has not eaten junk food at least once? I did it, and to me, as to many Americans, the junk food is the most delicious type of food. However, I know it is the unhealthiest food and the main cause of obesity in the United States. On the other hand, the U.S. government feels that is important to intervene in junk food lover’s lives to help them to improve their health and their food choices. In order to combat the obesity and other health problems that junk food causes, the U.S. government has been looking for many ways to prevent and decrease the number of obese people in the country. They believe that adding taxes to the junk food is a great idea that might help people to

The earliest inhabitants of Mexico are believed to have been hunters who migrated from Asia approximately 18,000 years ago. Over time they built organized civilizations with distinct cultures like the Olmec, Teotihuacan, Mayan, Toltec, Zapotec, Mixtec, and Aztecs. These societies excelled in the fields of art, architecture, mathematics, astronomy, and agriculture. In 1517 the Spanish explorer Francisco Fernández de Córdoba landed on the Yucatán, peninsula and four years later the Spanish Conquistador Hernando Cortéz conquered the Aztec empire. For the next 300 years, Mexico, or New Spain, would remain under colonial rule.

In a society where diseases such as diabetes and obesity are pervasive, action must be taken to combat the diseases. In Canada, Statistic Canada found that almost a third of Canadians aged 5 to 17 is overweight or obese. According to the World Health Organization standards of measurement, 31.5% of 5 to 17 year old Canadians are classified as overweight or obese from 2009 to 2011. With the high rates of obesity in Canadian children, which many affect their quality of life in the future as many diseases will develop as an adult. Canadian doctors attribute to the fact that the food industry has made it easy for Canadians to gain calories. The Canadian government must impose a junk food tax to make sure that accessing junk food and gaining calories will be more difficult. With the junk food tax, the Canadian government will increase tax revenues, Canadians will be able to change their lifestyles and the risk of Canadians having diseases such as obesity and diabetes will be dramatically decreased.

All the journals reviewed confirmed that obesity is a serious problem within the Hispanic Communities and one such Journals reviewed is the Hispanic Obesity: An American crises. The Journal discussed how obesity is a serious problem within the ages 2-19 male brackets, and also underscore the ways to manage or outright eradicate the problem. Obese Children are more likely to suffer from high blood pressure, bad cholesterol and other morbidities associated with obesity such as hypertension and diabetes. The journal also pointed to economic constrains which has forced many Hispanic parents to live in low income areas saturated with fast food restaurants. Also, lack of physical education and poor diets are some of the reasons why Hispanic male in the 2-19 age brackets become obese. The Journal also presented intervention

      Diabetes has been described, by doctors, as a metabolic disease in which the patient has high blood glucose (blood sugar), either because insulin production is inadequate, or because the body 's cells do not respond properly to insulin. The overall management of diabetes for older adults would be the same as management for younger adults. Nutritional management is essential for older adults primarily to control malnutrition and the patient being underweight.  For older adults, diabetes can not only be difficult for their overall health but also can cause financial hardship. I’ll discuss how Medicare and Medicaid help elevate some of the financial burden that