While a majority of Americans list cancer as the nation's most serious health issue, diabetes, obesity, heroin abuse, and bad drinking water all grab about the same amount of attention, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll.
Kaiser's April Tracking Poll asked participants to rank health concerns in four categories: Extremely serious, very serious, somewhat serious, and less serious. The answers paint a picture of a nation anxious about a wide array of afflictions, but not so worried about alcohol abuse or lack of access to affordable healthy food. The lack of access to health care also ranks low on the list of priorities.
Your interpretation of the results may depend upon your definition of "extremely serious" and "very serious."
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
