We Fatten Up While Others Go Hungry

And medical problems occur equally at either extreme.

"Be careful what you ask for! You may get it!", or, "Immigration Is Hazardous To Your Health!", should be posted on signs to warn off potential illegal border-crossers in the Southern US.

The Good Life may not be so good for them.

The World Health Organization publishes annually a status report on the main problems in "developing" (formerly "third world") as compared to those in "developed" countries. This year's report should be required reading for anyone seeking admission to the US, legally or otherwise. There are some common malefactors: Tobacco use and alcohol abuse are on the lists for both country groups, as is hypertension. The main points of digression are alimentary and (blush) sexual.

In the US and other countries similarly "blessed", high body mass index (well, obesity), and high cholesterol contrast with maternal and child underweight and "un-safe sex" in those countries which are considered lower on the economic development scale. What kind of a message is this? Come to the USA where we eat better (certainly, "eat more") and always use condoms?

Although we're just as concerned as anyone about the consequences of unsafe sex practices, our main theme today isn't in that category. It's the other one - the one related to living in this land of plenty, where we have plenty of really fat people, many of whom were skinny when they got here.

Do we say. "OK, you guys, as soon as you get here, forget all those ideas about milk and honey, or for that matter, McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell! Eat more tofu and sprouts! And no more pan dulce!" Talk about paternalistic, wasted breath. You all should be familiar with the statistics: Among our overweight kids in ethnic groups, Hispanics have the highest percentage. And adult Hispanics are disproportionally dominant in the category of "metabolic syndrome" (trunk obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol), which means that they will in the future represent a large part of our heart, kidney, stroke, and neurologic problems.

The solution to this is prevention directed at the most susceptible among us, always a tough challenge. Since members of minority groups seldom do this on their own, having other problems to think about (housing, clothing, family safety, trying to get a job, and so forth) prevention gets limited attention. Our current behavior is to wait a generation or two, hoping that the problem will just go away as education and exposure to good health habits take hold.

Do I hear, "Yeah, right" from some of you? If so, it may be an absolutely appropriate response. We're looking down the gun barrel (s) of a major crisis (es) in healthcare, and millions of victims of metabolic syndrome tighten the pressure on the trigger. We simply must do more in preventing obesity, and any cost involved is much less than will be the cost of treating its consequences.

More immigrants from Latin America present us with certain social and economic occurrences which challenge our established systems. Inadequate attention to the health problems facing Hispanic Americans and other minorities is an invitation to disaster. There are ways to improve this situation, the most important of which is to "get 'em while they're young!" At Wickenburg Health Net (www.wickenburghealth.net) we're working on it, with group programs on nutrition and general wellness (conducted in Spanish as needed) in the planning stages.

The world's people come in many colors, some of which may foretell specific medical problems. Guatemala's malnourished young woman may become a metabolic syndrome victim here because our food is tasty and plentiful. That's just a terrible shame.