Prevention: The New Health Focus
Because of rising concerns regarding an increase in unhealthy American lifestyles over the last thirty years, attention is being brought to the benefits of a focus on wellness rather than on disease. Proponents of the advocacy for better health practices have long been offering first-string solutions for many of America's crippling health concerns; however, even though there have been significant inroads, their voice has largely gone unheeded. Currently, as America steps into the unknown territory of nationwide health reform, corporate plans to encourage their employees toward better health through incentive programs, increased government subsidies and resources, and involvement by non-profits to reward healthy practices will help shift the paradigm from treatment to prevention. This shift from a disempowered place to a positive focus offers not only solutions to unhealthy trends in America, but also injects a 'can do' attitude into a beleaguered nation.

A blog from The Economist in 2013 presents the problem of declining health in America in a succinctly stark light. They indicate that even though our "life expectancy rose from 75.2 years in 1990 to 78.2 years in 2010, this seemingly good news actually masks two problems. First, though women live longer than men, their life expectancy is rising more slowly. Secondly, both sexes have a lower life expectancy than their peers in other rich countries, a gulf that has widened since the 1980s." Of course, life expectancy does not necessarily equate to quality of life, and many Americans are simply living longer in poor health. "Heart disease remains the top cause of premature death, followed by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and lung cancer” (The Economist, 2013).

Obesity, or a high body mass index (BMI), is second only to smoking as a cause of disease. Even though