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Subject:
From:
Joe Levy <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Health Promotion on the Internet <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 21 Dec 2003 11:57:00 -0500
Content-Type:
text/plain
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text/plain (174 lines)
A short break from my grading!!!
I believe that 99% of the professionals on this listserv would unequivocally
agree with your comments and applaud you for making them. As I often tell my
health studies students,  " the more independent variables introduced into the
health paradigm, the more of the variance in the dependent variable that will
be explained." To try to suppress, intimidate and insult those who are
advocating an open and scientific analysis of all the independend variables (
from traditional risk factors to social determinants)is contrary to all the
laws of science!
Happy Holidays,
Joe
--
Dr. Joseph Levy
Professor, School of Health Policy and Management
Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies;
Director, Wellness Centre at York University;
Academic Advisor, Vanier College
274 Vanier College, 4700 Keele Street
Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3
Phone: 416-736-2100 ext, 33898
email: [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Fax: 416-736-5899
http://www.yorku.ca/wellness

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Quoting Ed Blonz <[log in to unmask]>:

> I realize that this is a field in which you devote much effort, but I do not
> read this from these findings.  It is a bit of a stretch to take such data
> and twist it being into an smear against the poor.
>
> Granted those with fewer resources may be at greater risk for certain
> cancers, but this story was on data collected regarding diet and physical
> activity.  I have not seen the data and do not know the extend of the
> statistical analyses.  In this story there was no mention of an analysis
> regarding level of income, so I question the validity of projecting these
> findings simply because it fits a pattern that you might ascribe to; unless,
> of course, you are privy to such an analyses. The story relates to higher
> risk of cancer in 30% of Canadian adults.  Is it your contention that these
> the 30% of Canadians with the lowest income and those you describe below
> that are on the outs of society?   Are these the ones represented by the
> data?  In the actual study it was found that diet was affected by income,
> with those at lower income tending to have a lower intake of fruits and
> vegetables, but a reverse trend was seen with physical activity, with higher
> incomes having lower physical activity.
>
>
> This is a difficult issue and my intent is not to pick an argument, it is
> just that the connection between diet, activity and risk of cancer is not a
> new. There are a number of risk factors that include exposure to pollutants,
> air quality, etc, but this study looked at diet and activity.   What would
> you expect to do with such data?  Suppress it because it might be taken out
> of context and offend?  The ideal would be to collect sufficient data to be
> able to control for salient factors, and to make conclusions that consider
> the relevant confounds.   In a similar fashion it is essential to
> investigate the role played by other factors, including access to
> appropriate health care and screenings and interventions to see what effects
> they are having.
>
> Regards,
>
>
> Ed Blonz
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Health Promotion on the Internet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
> Of Dennis Raphael
> Sent: Saturday, December 20, 2003 6:46 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: respect?
>
>
> People who get cancers -- except for breat cancer -- are more likely to be
> low income people.
>
> We and they are told that people who get cancers  are lazy (sloth) and
> ignorant of what they should be eating.
>
> The evidence however indicates that income and social class are the best
> predictors of cancers independent of "lifestyle" and even then eating fruits
> and vegetables is heavily determined by life circumstamces most of which are
> beyond the control of individuals.
>
> The messages then:
>
> 1. You are responsible for your own cancers.
> 2.  If you engage in these activities it is your own fault for getting
> cancer. 3.  Yet, the evidence indicates that the determinants of cancer --
> both environmental and lifestyle -- are heavily structured by societal
> allocation of resources. 4.  Therefore, governments CAN ASSUME they have NO
> responsibility to address these issues, and people who get cancer -- usually
> more prevalent among the poor -- have nobody to blame but themselves for
> their predicament. 5. And we health workers did all we could by letting
> these poor souls know their "lifestyle habits" are leading them to the
> grave.
>
> I repeat the 10 tips that are consistent with that story. And then the ones
> more consistent with the actual evidence.
>
> Ten Tips For Better Health
>  - Donaldson, 1999
>
> Don't smoke. If you can, stop. If you can't, cut down.
>
> Follow a balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables.
>
> Keep physically active.
>
> Manage stress by, for example, talking things through and making time to
> relax.
>
> If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation.
>
> Cover up in the sun, and protect children from sunburn.
>
> Practise safer sex.
>
> Take up cancer screening opportunities.
>
> Be safe on the roads: follow the Highway Code.
>
> Learn the First Aid ABC : airways, breathing, circulation
>
>
> YET THE EVIDENCE INDICATES THAT:
>
>  Ten Tips for Staying Healthy
>  - Dave Gordon, 1999.
>
> Don't be poor. If you can, stop. If you can't, try not to be poor for long.
>
> Don't have poor parents.
>
> Own a car.
>
> Don't work in a stressful, low paid manual job.
>
> Don't live in damp, low quality housing.
>
> Be able to afford to go on a foreign holiday and sunbathe.
>
> Practice not losing your job and don't become unemployed.
>
> Take up all benefits you are entitled to if you are unemployed, retired or
> sick or disabled.
>
> Don't live next to a busy major road or near a polluting factory.
>
> Learn how to fill in the complex housing benefit/ asylum application forms
> before you become homeless and destitute
>
>
> Okay?
>
> dr
>
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