Thursday, March 01, 2007

"News You Can Use" Otherwise Eclipsed

Ironically, news like this gets no airplay, while criticisms of Americans' health, weight, "inequality of outcome", this that, and the other thing dominate the media.

There are wide variations in healthcare outcomes across the EU – for example, five year survival rates for bladder cancer range from 78% in Austria to 47% in Poland and Estonia.
Regions where income inequality is high tend to have a significantly lower life expectancy than regions where income inequality is comparatively low.

7% of Europeans had taken prescription drugs in the previous 12 months due to psychological or emotional health problems and 3% had received psychotherapy in that period (7% in the Netherlands).

As for obesity, the health risks can be as large as from smoking. Yet a Eurobarometer Survey showed that half of 15 -44 year olds had indulged in no vigorous physical activity in the previous seven days and 40% had not even taken part in moderate physical activity like walking for more than 30 minutes.

Oddly, this kind of story in the US about the US dominates the media, in exactrly the same way that the story about the US would dominate the news in Europe, but certainly not because it matters in Europe in any way.

In the US the story would be founded out of concern for public well being much as this one does, but in Europe out of mere ridicule - a mad degree of attention and at the expense of noticing "news you can use".

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