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	U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

REMARKS BY:	TOMMY G. THOMPSON, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
PLACE:	The National Press Club, Washington, D.C.
DATE:	April 30, 2002

Good Afternoon

Thank you to the National Press Club for allowing me to speak today on a subject that is literally a matter of life and death. How a little prevention won't kill you.

Did you enjoy your lunch? Did you eat your vegetables? Did you enjoy the fruit for dessert? If you did, great, it's helping to save your life.

Think about this: In the next hour, 35 Americans will die from inactivity and poor nutrition. They'll die because they didn't do something as basic and simple as walk on a regular basis.

This adds up to 300,000 Americans who die needlessly each year from diseases and health conditions related a sedentary lifestyle or poor eating habits. That's nearly as many as the 440,000 people who die each year from smoking -- another preventable cause of death. What a waste. And what ridiculous reasons to die.

Now, you might be thinking: "I feel sorry for those 35 people who are going to die while we're here, but I'll never be one of them. It'll happen to somebody else."

Well, think again -- because you could be one of them. According to a recent CDC study, seven in 10 adults do not engage in regular physical activity. And 40 percent of adults are not active at all. Thus, the odds are the majority of us in this room could be on a course to die from inactivity if we don't do something about it.

So when we say a Little Prevention Won't Kill You, we mean it very literally.

There are so many diseases that are preventable or controllable by making modest and attainable improvements in our level of activity and the food we eat. It is scientifically proven that moderate physical activity can reduce substantially the risk of developing diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, colon cancer, high blood pressure and obesity.

Our mistake in America is that we've made fitness a fad rather than a way of life.

We've done a good job of educating Americans about what foods are healthy and unhealthy; and that exercise is good for the waistline. But we've made "the waist a terrible thing to mind" -- making people believe they need to go to extremes to achieve good health.

If we're overweight, we hop on the hot new diet. If we're out of shape, we join a gym. But many of us never stick with these new "chores."

It reminds me of the man who joined a health club yet never seemed to lose weight. Then he discovered his problem. "I spent $400 on a health club membership and I never lost a pound," he said. "Then I found out I was supposed to show up."

Our long-standing goals for Americans to eat right and exercise regularly remain sound. What we need, however, is a fresh approach to good health. We need to make it fun and achievable. We need to stop the guilt-ridden lectures and start showing people the enjoyable and doable steps they can take to better health.

In fact, even focusing on three achievable things can substantially improve our health and prevent the onset of disease:

First, be active. You don't have to pay hundreds of dollars to join a health club or become a long-distance runner. Just 30 minutes of walking a day, five days a week, can significantly improve your health. A recent NIH study, for example, showed that following this walking regimen helped reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by nearly 60 percent. Healthy activity can be as modest as walking, as fun as playing in the backyard with your children for an hour, or as practical as taking the stairs instead of the elevator at work.

Now, we're all busy and time for exercise is always an issue. But if we make our family time active time, we will become healthier and have fun doing so. If it's too hard to carve out 30 straight minutes for activity; break it up. Three 10-minute or two 15-minute spurts of activity make an impact as well.

Second, enjoy fruits and vegetables. Adding a couple pieces of fruit throughout the day as well as servings of your favorite vegetables with lunch and dinner will make a difference. Your mom was right. Science proves that fruits and vegetables can help prevent disease, including colon cancer and heart disease.

Take a reasoned approach to better nutrition as well. If you can't give up those favorite foods that aren't so healthy, then fine. But enjoy them in modest portions. And throw in some fruits and vegetables to balance the nutritional value of your meals. See if you can work up to the recommended 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, then go for more.

Third, don't smoke. If you do, quit. If you don't, don't start. And make sure the children in your life don't start either. There are so many tools and support groups to help people quit smoking today. Take advantage of them. It'll save your health and your pocketbook.

Of course, there are other actions that will help prevent premature death too. If you drink, do so in moderation. When in the sun, protect your skin and avoid skin cancer. And practice safety at work, in the car, and at home.

But if we can just get Americans to succeed engaging in moderate activity, eating more fruits and vegetables, and avoiding tobacco, we can make a tremendous impact on the health of our families, our economy and our nation.

For inspiration, look to the small town of Dyersville, Iowa, which is proving that good health is not a field of dreams. It's achievable and fun for the whole town.

As you might imagine, the average diet of a Dyersville resident consisted of generous helpings of the pork and beef produced by its farmers and the traditional Friday night fish fry. Not good for the waist or the heart.

But this small town, where everyone knows each other, came together to get healthy, with neighbor helping neighbor. They made physical activity a social activity, forming groups called the Antique Teenagers, Millenium Grannies and The Sassy Seven. Restaurants joined the cause by adding healthier items to the menu. The taverns began serving broiled fish on Fridays. And kickboxing classes became the most popular activity in town. Just remember that kickboxing part the next time you're in Dyersville and thinking about getting a little rowdy.

Dyersville residents began walking so much that, according to the Des Moines Register, it prompted a group of Missouri visitors to ask: "What is going on in Dyersville? Doesn't anybody stay home? All these people are walking."

It all paid off. Dyersville residents lost 2 tons -- nearly 4,000 pounds -- in just 10 weeks. And over the past four years, 1,300 people in this town lost a collective 12,000 pounds.

Dyersville is a national model for how towns across America can make good health so fun and achievable.

The consequences of our health behaviors are very real and far-reaching, impacting our families, health care system and economy. Take the data from just three categories: diabetes, overweight/obesity and smoking.

Seventeen million Americans have diabetes right now and 16 million more have pre-diabetes. Each year, there are 1 million new cases and nearly 200,000 people die from it.

The cost to the economy: $100 billion annually in direct and indirect medical costs.

All for a disease that, to a great extent, can be controlled or prevented by better management of our weight.

Speaking of weight, 61 percent of American adults are overweight or obese. The cost: $117 billion a year.

As for smoking -- perhaps the most preventable cause of disease -- 19 percent of all deaths in America are due to tobacco. And it costs our health care system $70 billion annually.

These three problems alone kill upwards of 1 million Americans each year and cost our economy roughly $270 billion annually. It's time to do something about it.

What scares me the most, however, is that the diseases caused by a lack of activity and good nutrition are starting to maim our children. Type 2 Diabetes, a disease once reserved for adults 40 and older, is now found in children as young as eight. And it's growing.

This can be linked to the fact that our children are more sedentary and overweight than ever before. In fact, the number of overweight children has tripled in the past two decades.

We need to get serious about our children's lifestyles and get them active for at least an hour every day.

We need to get our children off the Play Stations and onto the Playgrounds.

The alarming growth rates of preventable diseases also point to how out-of-whack our health care system is in America. We wait until people get sick before providing care. We invest mostly in developing technology or medicines to keep the sick living longer, rather than preventing them from getting sick in the first place.

This doesn't make sense. We need to strike a better balance between preventive care and treatment.

Our mission at the Department of Health and Human Services is to do just that. Five of our approaches include:

• Investing in the front-end of the health care system. The President's budget provides $16.3 billion for disease prevention and control -- a 6 percent increase during a time of war. It contains a new $20 million Healthy Communities Initiative - a demonstration program allowing five communities to develop integrated strategies that will prevent obesity, diabetes and asthma. These communities will develop the best practices that others can then adopt.

• Motivating healthy behavior. This summer, we will release a Youth Media Campaign -- a bold and comprehensive marketing effort to get children more active and more healthy. It's an exciting combination of an advertising campaign with an interactive tour that will get our children to realize the fun they can have by being active. It'll motivate kids to get out and do something. We're also working with the Ad Council on a prevention campaign targeting adults.

• Marking our progress. We're creating a health report card for America, with the first one being released this summer. The 10 Leading Health Indicators will give a state-by-state accounting of how we're doing on issues such as overweight/obesity, physical activity, smoking, injuries, and access to health care. This annual report card will shine the spotlight on where we need to improve.

• Developing stronger social policy. We're encouraging communities to provide more physical activity for their children ... private sector insurers to cover more preventive health measures ... and more research into ways to prevent disease. And we're reviewing all HHS programs for ways to incorporate prevention into the services we provide Americans.

• Controlling Health Care Costs. People across America are rightfully concerned about the spiraling cost of health care. And the development of technology and costs for pharmaceuticals are certainly factors. But prevention can be an effective tool for controlling health care costs.

One of the many reasons that health care costs are rising is that we find ourselves making more visits to the doctor, needing more surgical procedures, and requiring more medication to control our illnesses. We can prevent some of these costs by taking better care of ourselves.

I'm challenging employers to become part of the solution as well. Companies voice the loudest concerns about health costs, and rightfully so because of the impact on the bottom line. But companies can do their part to better manage these costs by carving time and finding ways for their employees to be active. It will save on health care costs and make for more productive workers. So we're going to push and partner with business and labor unions to find incentives for a healthy workforce. It makes good business sense.

In conclusion, we're taking prevention directly to the people of America. Throughout this year, we're going to give Americans the tools, help and encouragement to live healthier. This week is a good example of how we're raising the profile of prevention.

Tomorrow, Martina Navratilova, Dominique Dawes and Herschel Walker come to HHS to show communities how they can make fun physical activities available for children. And we'll release a disturbing new report on the rise of child obesity. Thursday, we'll unveil a new program aimed at helping women prevent and control diabetes. Friday, we'll go to a D.C. school to talk about new guidelines for protecting children from skin cancer. And next Monday, we'll celebrate Older Americans Month and the value of exercise in preventing osteoporosis by leading a group of seniors on a half-hour walk on the Mall.

What better a time to put the health of America front and center than now ... The tragedy of Sept. 11 has drawn families closer together and made us more cognizant of our health and safety. Let's seize this opportunity: get off the couch, have fun and live healthy.

We've already sold President Bush on prevention. Expect to see the President weigh in on the need to get fit in the coming months, as he leads America to better health.

The President recognizes that a healthy America is a strong America. By practicing even a little prevention, we will have a nation that is as strong in heart and body as it is in spirit.

Thank you and God Bless