How's Your Health?

 How do you compare to other Americans when it comes to your health? 

• The average adult worker catches one cold per year and ends up taking about four sick days annually. Colds most often start on a Monday, but are caught two or three days earlier probably by touching an infected person’s hand.
• 26 percent of Americans know that to lead a relatively healthy lifestyle, they should drink in moderation, never smoke, get regular exercise, watch saturated fat intake, and consistently control their weight, but less than 23 percent actually live that proper lifestyle. The rest are ambivalent about the whole thing.
• Three top things that make people queasy: 1) eggs  2)  needles  3) blood.  Other things that raise our gorge: bus fumes, cigarette butts left in a coffee cup, cat hair balls, details about plastic surgery, and the smell of Christmas itself: roasting chestnuts.
• More than half of all Americans are overweight, so it’s not surprising that most of us lie about our weight more that any other subject and over 50 percent claim to be on a diet at any point during the year.
• Over $40 billion each year is spent by pharmaceutical companies to advertise their new remedies, yet only 36 percent of Americans are buying the hype: 61 percent don’t take prescription drugs at all.
• 44 percent of us have broken a bone, and the metatarsal is most frequently fractured (located in the center of the foot).
• 50 million Americans suffer from seasonal hay fever as well as other allergies: 17 percent believe they’re allergic to particular foods such as dairy products, wheat and seafood.
• 17 million people suffer from depression, twice as many women as men.  However, less than one third seek treatment because most people still view depression as a character flaw.
• 42 percent of people have used alternative medicine to treat what ails them.  Relaxation techniques, herbal medicine, massage and chiropractic top the list.