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Some people need a push, national expert says

 
BY SUSAN SIMPSON | Published: April 11, 2009    Comment on this article Leave a comment

Government leaders have an ethical responsibility to help citizens engage in healthier lifestyles, said Lawrence Gostin, director of the O’Neill Institute for National Global Health Law at Georgetown University Law Center.

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While individuals make choices that can help or harm their health, cities and states can push them in the right direction by rewarding good behavior and punishing the bad, Gostin said Friday.

Taxing cigarettes, fast foods and gasoline can encourage people to move more and eat better, especially if things like walking trails and affordable healthy foods are nearby, Gostin said.

"We value our health far too little,” Gostin said. "People in Oklahoma are dying from preventable diseases. Government just can’t turn its back on that.”

Gostin spoke Friday at the University of Oklahoma College of Public Health for the state’s first Zach D.

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