Highlights On The World Cup Of Health

Rugby is a physical sport that is played by the fittest, strongest and toughest athletes pushing their bodies towards absolute limit. Here the player’s health is a major concern. Injury is common in this game and with 2015 Rugby World Cup all set to kick off, the welfare of every player is in the vanguard of the Rugby’s concerns. This year many nations will participate in this game from markedly different cultures.

A research has been lately conducted on four separate categories namely health services, life span, weight management and alcohol and tobacco. The Rugby World Cup of Health will be played resting on these scores,

•Weight management- Of all the participating countries it is Japan that recorded the healthiest figures. The credit for this goes to the country’s healthy diet and healthier attitude to food. Tonga and Soma were found to have the highest mean BMI and obesity. This is because of the countries western culture that is high intake of fast food as well as usage of labour-saving devices. On the other hand obesity epidemic has been recorded in the US while that of New Zealand comes as a shock. This can either be due to the large accessibility and cheapness of different fast food items or growing population of senior citizens.

•Life span- Under this category Australia bagged the highest score. With a noteworthy aging population, the health-care facilities in Australia are well-geared to treat the senior citizens. Not only this, Japan also recorded of having the longest overall life expectancy. The link amid potential health problems and poor air quality has been recorded in Georgia and Romania where life expectancy is shorter and pollution is high.

•Health services- High obesity prevalence as well as health related issues like high blood pressure and diabetes may help in pushing this figure up. In poorer Pacific countries as well as less developed countries like Namibia the healthcare provisions are sparser. With simpler ways of living and relatively small populations, the requirement for healthcare in such countries will not be as good as this may be in highly dense populated nations. With high obesity in Tonga and Samoa, people are less likely in seeking treatment. The older population in Australia is an indicator why healthcare here is accessible and staffed. And with respect to the figures in Scotland, when the same is paired with the lower life expectancy of the country, it may be taken as an apparent example of good investment in healthcare, in fact a sign of higher demand of an unhealthier population.

•Alcohol and tobacco- Tobacco and alcohol consumption are not innate cultural fixtures in everyday life in Fiji. The figure stated is only of tourist consumption. The well-known cultural attitude of consuming wine in France has been clearly evidenced here. The same can also be said in case of other countries such as Ireland and the UK. In case of Samoa and Tonga, consumption of alcohol is low yet use of tobacco is high. Again this may be the Westernisation’s impact. The binge-drinking culture in the UK plays a crucial role in the current high alcohol consumption. The prevalence of smokers in France has contributed to lower position at the table. In case of smoking figures the United Kingdom fared worse.

The final verdict

•Japan-longer life expectancy, low tobacco and alcohol consumption, superior BMI figures

•Italy and Canada performed well in case of all other criteria although these countries did not appear as clearly favourable with respect to any specific category.

This was an interesting comparison and analysis of the 20 World Cup participating countries health profiles. The study was conducted by healthcare website www.treated.com