Hearing spotlights chronic disease prevention, obesity and military readiness

An unidentified committee member, speaking at a Ways and Means: House Committee hearing, urged Congress to invest in technologies and programs aimed at preventing and treating chronic diseases, citing rising cancer diagnoses, high obesity rates and effects on military readiness.

The committee member said the American Cancer Society projects U.S. new cancer cases will top 2,000,000 in the coming year and noted that more than 45 percent of U.S. adults and over 20 percent of children are obese. The member also said health-care spending is approaching 19 percent of gross domestic product and that Medicare recently surpassed $1,000,000,000,000 in spending for the first time, citing those trends as part of the rationale for stronger prevention efforts.

The speaker said prevention should be emphasized ‘‘back to the very basics,’’ including nutrition and exercise, and said many families lack the time or resources to interpret food labeling. The committee member said they and Congresswoman Glenn Lehi Moore recently launched the bipartisan Congressional Prevention, Health, and Wellness Caucus to focus on prevention, food-as-medicine initiatives, exercise and military readiness.

The committee member also contrasted U.S. health spending and outcomes with other countries, saying Israel spends under 8 percent of GDP on health care and has longer life expectancy, and cited an article in Forbes by Senator Frist arguing for a return to basic prevention measures.

The hearing then proceeded to receive testimony from invited witnesses on prevention and chronic-condition management, according to the committee member.