Scurry to the nearest mall!!!!-15 more days to meet that holiday shopping deadline. Rush out to buy the toys, food, gifts, and decorations that are sure to bring peace and joy. Each year, we buy the pitch, racing madly at the last minute searching for something to prove that the holiday spirit has captured us and that we have not forgotten those we love. Yet, in the United States, there are so many families and particularly children who fall through the cracks of good cheer. This is a particularly tough time of the year if you live below the poverty line, especially in a consumer-driven society like ours. And we often soothe ourselves into thinking that the toy drives and the canned food collections will diminish the feelings of helplessness and hopelessness of those living in poverty.
With the near collapse of the economy last year, the prevalence of those living below the poverty line in the United States has surely exceeded the nearly 13% of the US population reported by the Bureau of Census in 2007.1 Nearly 40 million individuals, predominantly children, minorities, and those living in inner cities, live in poverty, and many of them experience poor health outcomes. Environmental hazards, crime-ridden communities, and lack of access to healthcare contribute to stressful living and chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. I recall the response of a concerned, inner-city mother who brought her child to our health center. Her 8-year-old son was growing more obese, and she was concerned for his health, having struggled with her own obesity-related health problems for years. A well-meaning but naive student asked why she did not encourage her son to exercise, such as walking to and from school everyday. "My neighbor takes my son to school in her car. It's the safest way to avoid stray bullets." This mother and her children live a confined, sedentary lifestyle out of a need to be safe. In fact, women living well below the poverty line are reported to be 50% more likely to be obese than women living in better circumstances.2 Drugs, alcohol, and smoking, which are used to ease the pain, further complicate health problems associated with poverty. The "holistic lifestyle" so often touted in this journal as the key to health and longevity is largely out of reach to those 40 million people living in poverty.
So it is Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or whatever holiday you may be celebrating. Shop till you drop, you have earned it!! You are a hard working, dedicated nurse, committed to caring for the sick, preventing disease, and promoting health. At the same time, let us rally to do something about the healthcare and lifestyles of those living in poverty. Let us make certain that we support some form of healthcare reform. Let us particularly focus on the children, since they have a chance to break the cycle. It is the holiday season-10 more days to shop and not much time to change a broken healthcare system. A happy, holistic holiday to all HNP readers!!
Gloria F. Donnelly, PhD, RN, FAAN
Editor-in-chief
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