30 year 30 hits us
The nation's suicide rate has surged to its highest point in nearly 30 years, according to a federal analysis of data released Friday, with higher rates reported for nearly every group except older adults. The overall suicide rate in the United States increased 24 percent over the period of the study, from 1999 to 2014, bringing the suicide rate to 13 for every 100,000 people, the highest since 1986. The National Center for Health Statistics, which released the data, noted that the suicide rate steadily declined from 1986 to 1999 before increasing. For women ages 45–64, it has jumped 63 percent since 1999. Still, the biggest percentage increase was among females was for those ages 10-14. While their suicide rate is still low compared to other groups, researchers found it had tripled to 1.5 per 100,000. The largest increase in the suicide rate for men was among those ages 45–64, which jumped from 20.8 to 29.7 suicides per 100,000 people. Among males, suicide rates were highest among those 75 and older, though that age group was the only one to see a drop in the suicide rate, similar to women 75 and older. “ We have more and more effective treatments, but we have to figure out how to bake them into health care systems so they are used more automatically,” Jane Pearson, chairwoman of the National Institute of Mental Health’s Suicide Research Consortium overseeing National Institutes of Health funding for suicide prevention research, told The New York Times.“ We’ve got bits and pieces, but we haven’t really put them all together.
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Red meat consumption may be set to rise in the U. S. for the first time in a decade, but in other diet- and public health–related news, Americans drank less soda in 2015—making that 11 straight years of decline and a 30-year low. According to a new report from Beverage Digest, Americans drank 1.2 percent less soda, by volume, in 2015, outpacing the 0.9 percent decline from 2014. Pepsi, one of the iconic dueling cola brands, saw consumption slip by 3.2. Fanta, which is owned by Coke, is one of the few beverages that saw significant growth: Americans drank 8.3 percent more of the fruit-flavored sodas last year. The 11th year of soda’s slump comes as Philadelphia is considering a soda tax; the organizers behind the successful 2014 soda-tax ballot measure in Berkeley, California, are trying to convince other cities they can do the same; and, across the pond, the United Kingdom is moving toward a nationwide tax on sugary beverages. And outside the policy realm, Coke weathered a months-long scandal last year over its funding and continued involvement with the operations of a nonprofit that promoted exercise as the solution to obesity over diet. The industry spin on the news is that consumers aren’t moving away from soda but are simply drinking it differently. “ The consumer is moving to smaller packages,” Sandy Douglas, president of Coca- Cola North America, said at the Morgan Stanley Global Consumer & Retail Conference last year, according to Business Insider. “ A 12-ounce traded to a 7-ounce can is a 30 percent reduction in volume, but it’s an increase in revenue.” Americans appear to be heeding the call of nutritionists and public-health experts to not consume more than a day’s worth of sugar contained in a can of Coke (per the World Health Organization’s guidelines). But these are global companies, and the industry is turning to overseas markets—including poor, developing.