Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Generation 'could die before their parents' as avoidable health complaints soar

Generation 'could die before their parents' as avoidable health complaints soar:

"Today's children could die at a younger age than their parents as preventable diseases reach epidemic levels, the UK's leading hospitals warned today.

Doctors from Liverpool's Alder Hey Children's Hospital said the number of avoidable health complaints such as obesity and tooth decay were booming.

As a result they were spending an increasing amount of time dealing with avoidable conditions."

Dr Steve Ryan, medical director at Alder Hey, said: 'It just shouldn't be happening.
'These children should not be suffering from these problems and they should not be here at this hospital.
'People are starting to say maybe this is a generation where children will be dying before their parents.'
Alder Hey is one of Europe's biggest children's hospitals, providing care for more than 200,000 children each year.
One of the areas most affected is the dental department. More than half of the 1,000 dental operations carried out each year are on children under the age of six.
Research has shown people with gum disease and tooth decay have a higher risk of heart disease.
Meanwhile between 500 to 1,000 children a year end up in hospital because they are exposed to their parents' smoking.
Another report predicted that eight out of 10 men and almost seven in 10 women will be overweight or obese by 2020.
BBC's Panorama programme 'Spoilt Rotten? claims around £1m and hundreds of hours of treatment time are being spent each year treating obesity, tooth decay, alcohol abuse and health complaints associated with passive smoking.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1265600/Generation-die-parents-avoidable-health-complaints-soar.html#ixzz0l0tH5tQN

No comments: