Do we all have an equal chance for good health?
Eugene residents are welcome to join the Lane Coalition for Healthy Active Youth (LCHAY) for community conversation about and screening of the documentary film “Unnatural Causes; Is Inequality Making Us Sick?” on March 9 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Eugene Public Library.
According to LCHAY, the film makers crisscrossed the nation uncovering startling new findings that suggest there is much more to our health than bad habits, health care, or unlucky genes…and their research revealed a wealth gradient to good health.
“At each step down the class pyramid, people tend to be sicker and die sooner. Poor Americans die on average almost six years sooner than the rich. No surprise. But even middle-class Americans die two years sooner than the rich. And at each step on that pyramid, African Americans, on average, fare worse than their white counterparts. In many cases, so do other peoples of color,” according to the film’s website.
“The wages and benefits we’re paid, the neighborhoods we live in, the schools we attend, our access to resources and even our tax policies are health issues every bit as critical as diet, smoking and exercise,” says Larry Adelman, executive producer of the film series.
“The unequal distribution of these social conditions – and their health consequences – is not natural or inevitable. It is the result of choices that we as a community, as states, and as a nation have made, and can make differently. Other nations already have, and they live longer, healthier lives as a result,” Adelman says.
The filmmaker also created an “Amazing Facts About Health” data sheet to help illustrate the points made in the documentary.
“We hope that the series and its companion tools will help you work towards better health by bringing into view how economic justice, racial equality, and caring communities may be the best medicines of all,” said Adelman.
