Obesity and Literacy and Guns

I read the other day that, on average, Americans read at a 7th grade level. That is not very uplifting. European countries do much better than we do. Have we ever wondered why? Does our country spend time looking at other countries’ education systems that solve issues that we should be solving?

Obesity is another one. In Europe, on average, the obesity rate is at 15%. In America, the average obesity rate is 36%. That is a significant difference. Do we wonder why we have come to a point where ozempic or gastric band surgery is the suggested answer to obesity problems? Perhaps it is how we farm our food and processed food from the grocery store. Or is that too costly to change?

Forty-five percent of homes own a gun, and the average owner owns five firearms. Our citizens own the most guns by a long shot. How could any intelligent individual actually believe that it is mental health, not guns, that has set off an epidemic of gun shootings? America has a low supply of mental health workers, while other countries have a robust supply.

These are three serious issues our country has seen creep up to epidemic proportions. Still, somehow, we do not see somebody leading either of these problems through significant changes based on actual data. Instead, we seem to allow pharmaceutical companies to change the problem, lobbyists to keep guns in the hands of any American, and little funding to have mental health counselors in public schools. Why?

We are about to witness one of the nastier Presidential elections in history, with one side not talking about any of the issues but instead playing the blame game with hate and disdain vs empathy and vision for change. I look at these stats that are only taking place in America and wonder how did we get to this place and how can we make significant changes with leaders of a completely different generation. I fear we can’t.