The following information is from the IHRSA Wellness report.

World deaths from “lifestyle” diseases will double by 2015 unless all-out efforts are taken to combat them, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned Friday.

It said about 17 million people die prematurely each year as a result of the global epidemic of largely preventable chronic diseases — the leading cause of death in the world today.

High on the list are cardiovascular diseases — mainly heart disease and stroke — cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes and obesity.

“Unless national interventions are urgently taken to reduce the prevalence of chronic diseases, 36 million people will die of these diseases by 2015, nearly half of them before they turn 70,” said Shigeru Omi, director of the WHO regional committee for the Western Pacific.

The committee Friday was winding up a five-day meeting in the southern South Korean island of Jeju.

In 2005 the WHO set a global goal of reducing the projected trend of chronic disease death rates by two percent each year until 2015.

There are campaigns for everything from global warming to save the forests. Can we perhaps start a campaign that focuses on improving the health of our country? As with any effort to “save the world” it begins with you and a passion to make a difference.

I was at the airport yesterday heading to Orlando with hundreds of families. What struck me is the number of