As Warren Zevon once said: Life'll kill ya. And that's something most Americans agree with.

Three nonprofits — NPR, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health — teamed up to find out what U.S. adults thought were the causes of poor health. Turns out we think lots of factors are undermining our health on a daily basis — at least according to the results mined from responses from almost 2,500 people.

Here's the basic breakdown of what breaks down our health. These numbers are for the most frequently cited causes deemed "extremely important to health problems" and they exceed 100 percent (by plenty) because people could site more than one cause:

When asked about incidents from one's childhood that had an extremely important effect on one's health later in life, respondents chose:

  • Childhood abuse and/or neglect: 54 percent

  • Living in a polluted area: 44 percent

  • Poor diet: 44 percent

  • Not getting vaccinated: 43 percent

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When the results were viewed through the lens of race, a chasm appeared between the responses from whites and African Americans. The latter placed greater emphasis on the following than did the former (percent in parenthesis):

  • Lack of access to high-quality medical care: 56 percent (41 percent)

  • God's will: 47 percent (29 percent)

  • Having a low income: 45 percent (23 percent)

  • Not having enough education: 41 percent (26 percent)

"Hispanics are more likely than non-Hispanic whites (46 percent to 31 percent) to say that bad working conditions are extremely important," the survey showed.

A similar gap appeared when household income was taken into account. Those with incomes below $25,000 tended to place greater importance on the following childhood experiences than did those with $75,000 or more in income (percent in parenthesis): 

  • Being abused or neglected in childhood: 61 percent (51 percent)

  • Living in a polluted environment in childhood: 49 percent (37 percent)

  • Poor diet in childhood: 50 percent (36 percent)

  • Living in poverty in childhood: 39 percent (30 percent)

  • Being born premature or underweight: 30 percent (18 percent)

And what do most Americans think could be done to  achieve an overall improvement in the nation's health? The extremely important factors were:

  • Better access to healthy and affordable food: 57 percent

  • Reducing illegal drug use: 54 percent

  • Reducing pollution: 52 percent

  • Increasing access to high-quality health care: 52 percent

  • Improving the economy and the availability of jobs: 49 percent

"The United States is a country where most people are concerned about their health. In fact, about one-third (31 percent) say they are very concerned. Americans do not see a single problem that leads to ill health; rather, they see a broad range of causes," the study concluded. "In terms of improving the health of the nation and their own communities, Americans think very broadly about the issues that have to be addressed in the future. The public recognizes that effective steps in improving health go beyond medical care, including economic, environmental, and school-, work-, and diet-related measures."

 

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Dan Cook

Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.