Why Are American Rates of Chronic Disease So High—And What Can We Do About It?

christina0058
Aug 29
3 min read

It’s no secret: America is facing a chronic disease epidemic. Diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and obesity are affecting the majority of adults in this country, straining families, communities, and our entire healthcare system.

The Numbers Tell the Story

9 in 10 U.S. adults have at least one major chronic condition or risk factor such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or overweight/obesity.
These conditions account for nearly 90% of America’s $4.5 trillion in annual healthcare costs.
Nearly 50% of adults live with high blood pressure, 42% are obese, and 14% have diabetes. Many live with more than one of these conditions at the same time.

The truth is, these conditions don’t develop overnight—and they don’t have to define the rest of someone’s life.

Why Are the Rates So High?

Food Environment – Our culture is saturated with ultra-processed, calorie-dense foods that are cheaper and easier to access than fresh, whole foods.
Lifestyle Demands – Long work hours, stress, and limited time make healthy eating, sleep, and movement difficult.
Reactive Healthcare – Our system often focuses on managing disease with medication rather than preventing it.
Lack of Awareness – Many people don’t realize their blood sugar, cholesterol, or blood pressure is high until it’s dangerously out of range.

Why Medications Alone Aren’t Enough

Medications can be lifesaving. But they don’t address the root causes of chronic disease—diet, movement, stress, sleep, and community support. Over time, that means people often need more prescriptions to control worsening conditions.

Research shows that comprehensive lifestyle changes—better nutrition, increased physical activity, stress reduction, and weight management—can:

Lower blood pressure
Improve cholesterol levels
Prevent or reverse prediabetes
Reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke

This is where providers can step in differently.

What Makes Room for Health Different

At Room for Health, we help people, families, and communities get healthier with less medication.

Here’s how we set ourselves apart:

Lab-Guided medicine– We use real lab results (cholesterol, blood sugar, vitamin deficiencies, inflammation markers) to design personalized plans. This means no guesswork—we meet people where they are, with data to back it up.
Education Over Prescriptions – We believe knowledge is power. By teaching people what their lab numbers mean and how lifestyle changes impact them, we put control back in their hands.
Community Focus – Health isn’t built in the doctor’s office alone. We bring education and support into families, workplaces, and community spaces.
Prevention First – Instead of waiting for disease to progress, we aim to catch risk factors early—before they spiral into hospital visits or lifelong medication use.
Resources- we cannot take care of our health the right way without specific resources that back them where they are.
Physical exams- each initial visit includes a comprehensive physical exam and vital signs- to ensure we all have the full picture.
The Challenges People Face

We know it’s not always easy. People face real barriers:

Limited access to affordable healthy food
Busy schedules that push exercise and sleep aside
Confusing health information that makes it hard to know who to trust
Financial stress that makes prevention feel out of reach

That’s why Room for Health is built around meeting people where they are. Whether it’s through one-on-one coaching, community workshops, or partnerships with local organizations, we help individuals make changes that are realistic, affordable, and sustainable.

What We Can Do Together

Providers have an incredible opportunity: to shift the conversation from simply treating illness to truly building health. By combining evidence-based lifestyle medicine, the right use of labs, and a community-centered approach, we can help people live longer, healthier, more independent lives.

The bottom line: Medications can manage symptoms. But lifestyle changes—supported by the right team, the right data, and the right approach—can change the story.

At Room for Health, that’s our mission: helping people get healthier, live longer and have a better quality of life with less medications to carry around in a box.