Eat Shit and Die II- The Cost & Dying Parts

In the previous post I talked about access to food. I didn't really get to talk much about the costs and the dying part.
First, the State of Tennessee Department of Health did a Behavioral Risk Factor Survey in 2007 for diabetes. It had a small sample size. (Ideally, if we had data at the census tract or zip code level we could really see the links between poverty and diabetes.) The study compared Shelby, Davidson, Knox, Hamilton, Madison, and Sullivan Counties. Only Knox County had a higher risk factor for citizens developing diabetes.
Shelby- 11
Davidson- 9.6
Knox- 12.3 (They got some fat-ass crackers up there.)
Hamilton- 10.5
Madison- 9.1
Sullivan- 9.6

When translated into an actual number of people who are at risk, the numbers are stunning.
Shelby- 73,264
Davidson- 41,792
Knox- 39,488
Hamilton- 25,627
Madison- 6,650
Sullivan- 11,710

Michael Pollan pointed out that a person with Type 2 Diabetes has additional health care costs of $14,000 per year. If Shelby County's 73,264 at risk people developed diabetes it would cost $1,025,696. Does Memphis and Shelby County really have an extra billion dollars in local, state, and federal dollars to spend on this every year for the foreseeable future? The Med is going bankrupt as it is.

What is that foreseeable future in terms of lifespan. Lets go back to our four targeted zip codes.
Here is the median age of death for black folks in the three poor zip codes. (I don't list white folks because only like a total of 6 white folks live in these zip codes.)
38107- 63.7
38108- 64.4
38106- 65.7
(Note violence plays a part in bringing these ages down, but that's fucked up too, yet most has to do with health care access and nutrition.)

Check out the median age of death for white folks in 38018. It's 74.9.

I told you we'd get to the dying part.

Desperate times require radical changes. We can't afford not to change.