Across the Pond

Washington thought long (and hard?) about how to best tackle the obesity problem in this country. This week it published new dietary guidelines for Americans: eat less, avoid oversized portions, drink water instead of sugary drinks. According to the two agencies which came up with the new plan - the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture - the new recommendations provide "authoritative advice for people 2 years and older about how proper dietary habits can promote health and reduce risk for major chronic diseases". The suggestions are "based on the most sound scientific information". Which information? Scientific? Avoid oversized portions. Isn't that a no-brainer? The governmental departments of Health and of Agriculture have been in the dietary recommendation business since 1980 and have published new suggestions for healthy eating habits every five years since then. All the while we have grown bigger and bigger....

"Please take off your clothes from the waist up and lie down on this table." The nurse's voice was friendly, matter-of-factly. I looked around, searching for a curtain that might work as a changing room, a paper gown to cover up. Nothing. The nurse's eyes urged me on, so I got naked, then and there, the lady a mere arm's length away. It was one of those moments where I longed to be in California. Culturally speaking the naked body is a complicated thing. Some muslim women must cover up (or feel the need to do so); Scandinavians on the other hand, when visiting beaches, pools, and lakes, expose themselves without inhibition; Austrians and Germans don't tend to be shy either. Hereabouts images of more or less naked women are used to advertise anything from cars to clothes to window sashes. A recent campaign by a beer brewer shows three women from the chest upward, no clothes, arms crossed to hide their breasts. The connection between the women and the beer is ...

When? Last weekend Where? Emergency Hospital Wien-Meidling What? A cigarette vending machine, the first thing you see as you walk through the main entrance of the hospital The hospital is under construction, and finding your way around is not easy right now. Since we had a leg problem we were not sure whether the yellow sign was applicable. But no complaints! The wait was short, the doctor seemed to know what he was doing, the nurse was friendly.

Pope Paul VI, talking to the Austrian President Franz Jonas in 1971, called Austria the "Island of the Happy". The phrase stuck, albeit mutated: throughout the seventies and into the early eighties Austrians saw their country as the "Island of the Blessed". In many ways it still is. Take maternal mortality rates. According to the latest Lancet report 17 out of 100.000 women die in the USA because of pregnancy or child birth; in Austria it is only six out of 100.000. The difference is huge. It means that American women have an almost threefold chance of dying when they become pregnant. The reason for the disparity? Austria is a welfare state. Compared to the USA Austria has no poverty to speak of, and poverty is related to poor health; Austria's health care system is universal, meaning everybody is insured; Some benefits for expectant and new mothers are tied to medical examinations during pregnancy. If a woman does not go for checkups she will lose money....