14 DAY TRIAL // A new scientific study, published in the journal INFORMS, shows that many people meet their demise because of the decisions they make in their New Year's resolutions. Causing factors range from smoking to binge-drinking, using drugs, eating fast food and others. Cancer and heart diseases are still the main causes of death in the United States, each claiming approximately 400,000 lives per year. In total, some 1 million Americans die each year prematurely, according to statistics released by the Health Department. Ralph L. Keeney, at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, the author of the new research, says that obesity is also one of the main problems that plague America and drive up the rate of premature deaths. Because people choose not to include health-related wishes in their resolutions, statistics remained constant over the past couple of years, which has scientists and behavior experts concerned over the state of health of the population.
"Given that the impacts of smoking and being overweight start taking a heavy toll in the mid-30s, I wasn't surprised with this result for people over 35. However, I was surprised that more than 55 percent of the deaths to individuals 15 to 24 years old could be avoided with different easy-to-make personal decisions. For many of these individuals, more than 40 years of potential productive life is lost," Keeney says.
Some of the few “good” wishes that everyone can add to their resolutions include driving sober, exercising regularly, avoiding smoking and drugs, drinking alcohol in moderation, not exceeding the speed limit and using contraceptive methods. In the end, these tips should be common sense for those people not looking explicitly to end their own lives.
The paper Keeney published also shows that people do not have to necessarily rely on others, on hospital or NGOs to make their lives better; they can simply adopt a healthier life style, and their conditions will improve or will be avoided entirely.