There certainly have been several interesting surveys and studies published lately that deal with chronic illness. It came as a shock to learn that 37% of people who were polled by the American Cancer Society who believe that they have little or no control over preventing or getting cancer. This statistic threw me for a loop. I had to re-read the article to make sure what I was seeing was correct. What is the reason for this? Is it that fear of disease makes one avoid learning about prevention? Could it be that virtually every person is connected in some way to someone who has suffered from cancer at some point into their life and figure “if it’s going to happen it’s going to happen”? Is it because of the large percentage of uninsured people in the US that are unable to seek preventative tests? What is it, and more importantly, what can be done about it? Here is what I think:

When a parent is preparing to bring a newborn child home from the hospital, he/she must illustrate to the nurses that they are able to secure the newborn in a safe car seat before being discharged from the hospital (at least this is the case in Canada). During this stage in a parent’s life, most moms and dads generally want to absorb any and all information that might increase the health of their child. Why not make it a hospital policy that after the child is born, the mother is given a brief education in the importance of protecting the child from the sun? Those of us that have been touched by melanoma know that being sunburned early in life is directly related to the odds of developing deadly skin cancers later in life. How about a school system policy that requires some time be allocated to teaching prevention strategies, during home economics class or alongside physical education? I believe that school curiculum should educate children about life choices and how what they do when they are young can effect their long-term health. So much of what we know and so many of our habits come from what we learn as youths. Most bad habits such as smoking and drug use grow out of experimentation by children… If we do not reach our children at critical early stages they may be all but lost.

Can we change this 37% figure? If you have any thoughts on this topic, please comment.