It’s the rent, stupid!

In 1992, Bill Clinton faced George Bush Sr. for the first time for power in the White House. The Republican president at the time dedicated himself to selling his foreign policy achievements (the end of the Cold War or the Gulf War) to win elections again when the economy was not going through its best times . The Clinton team, for whom all seemed lost, coined the famous phrase “the economy, stupid» to put emphasis where Bush did not want it and, thereby, convince voters on issues that concerned them on a daily basis. It worked.

This story came to mind when I was writing this week about thenew study on overweight and obesity in childrenof the Ministry of Social Rights and Consumer Affairs. The survey, carried out in different cycles since 2011, leaves us with two pieces of news. The good news is that the percentage of overweight boys and girls has decreased slightly (from 40% to 36%); The bad news is that there has been no improvement in the situation of poor families. Income and obesity repel each other: the lower the income, the higher the weight.

And yes, almost all roads lead to health income. People with a lower economic level have poorer health.They use more pills for pain, anxiety or depression.There is endless research and documentation. In public health, it is widely studied through what we call the social determinants of health. Income is one; the level of studies, another.

Coming back to children, the link is undeniable: boys and girls aged 6 to 9 who live in families with incomes of less than 18,000 euros per year eat less fruit, less vegetables, eat less breakfast and drink more soft drinks. They also participate less in extracurricular guided physical exercise activities (sport or dance) and spend more sedentary time in front of screens. The result of this cocktail is obvious: obesity affects poor children twice as much. A disaster predicted; a disaster that is not new.

The figures in this report remind us that childhood overweight, classified as a public health problem by the World Health Organization and which has consequences for the adults that these children will become in the future, is not an individual matter and will never be resolved. if we treat it as such.

Meanwhile, Spain is waiting for measures that could help narrow this gap, but it is stuck. Like the ban on advertising of unhealthy foods that former minister Alberto Garzón tried to pass three years ago. If the poorest children are those who spend the most time in front of screens, they are alsothose who are most exposed to this advertising. The Ministry of Social Rights and Consumer Affairs says it wants to try to approve it again, but it knows that its partner, the PSOE,He already stopped it once.And it is unlikely that the position of the Ministry of Agriculture has changed. Public policies serve to reorganize and balance what is unequal. And in this area, the urgency is undeniable.

While you were doing something else…

The elephant in the room

People over 80 have the highest suicide rate in Spain and yet they are invisible deaths that no one pays much attention to. I asked psychiatrists, sociologists and survivors why this happens and the answers are very interesting.

Ageism explains a lot: “It confuses us and we identify psychological problems with age problems. Since you are older, it is normal for you to be angrier and sadder. Sometimes it seems that we privilege the elderly over the complexity of the human being or that we think that old age itself is the cause of suicide,” said Irene Lebrusán, doctor of sociology and researcher at the International Center on aging (CENIE).lThe full reportIt’s in this link.

Finally, a recommendation: the latest book by Maruja Torres, an 81-year-old woman with a great desire to live. Or at least that’s what the cover says.This interview with her is really cool.

Sofia

Source