Abstract
The American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine (AJLM) is delighted to collaborate with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its National Center for Injury Prevention and Control to publish an entire issue of AJLM devoted to violence prevention. This issue follows a previous collaborative effort in 2009 where AJLM devoted an entire issue to lifestyle medicine and unintentional injury prevention.
Violence is an unfortunate reality in the world we inhabit. It can have devastating consequences on the health and well-being of victims at any age. It is imperative that health care practitioners understand that violence represents not just a health issue. It is particularly important for those of us who are interested in the area of lifestyle medicine because aspects of lifestyle create increased risk for violence. There are also enormous opportunities to study and emerging science related to strategies that lower risk factors for violence or, in many instances, prevent it.
By any measure the toll of violence in the United States is stunning. Consider the following facts 1 :
violence is one of the top 10 leading causes of death in the United States for individuals from birth to age 64;
more than 1.3 million years of potential life are lost to violence in individuals below the age of 65 in the United States;
an estimated 18 361 people died of homicide and 34 598 died as a result of suicide in 2007;
1.54 million assault-related injury cases and 395 320 self-harm injury cases were treated in emergency departments in 2007; and
the estimated annual cost of medical care and productivity lost because of violence each year is estimated at more than 70 billion dollars. 2
“It is particularly important for those of us who are interested in the area of lifestyle medicine because aspects of lifestyle create increased risk for violence.”
Violence affects every segment of the population in the United States, including some of the most vulnerable individuals. An estimated 24.8% of women and 7.6% of men have reported experiencing physical or sexual intimate partner violence in their lifetime. 3 Each year more than 1700 children die as a result of maltreatment in the United States, 4 whereas the actual prevalence of child maltreatment may be as high as 10 out of 100 children in the United States.4,5
Although certain types of violence such as intimate partner violence are more likely to victimize women than men, men may also be victimized by violence. For example, more than 39% of high school boys report having been in physical fights, compared with 22.9% of girls. 6 The elderly population is also at risk for violence. The highest rates of suicide among all age groups are found in men older than 75 years. 1
Despite these grim statistics, there is reason to be hopeful about the potential to ameliorate both the prevalence and consequences of violence. An encouraging body of science in risk factor reduction and violence prevention is emerging with the CDC with its Division of Violence Prevention taking the lead in this area.
The substantial body of science that exists concerning violence and its potential prevention has been ably summarized in this issue of AJLM in the outstanding group of papers authored by internationally recognized experts in virtually every major area of violence prevention. We are grateful to Dr Tamara Haegerich, who serves as the Special Assistant to the Associate Director for Science, and Dr Linda Dahlberg, who serves as Associate Director for Science, Division of Violence Prevention at the CDC’s Injury Center, for assembling an outstanding group of authors and accepting the challenge to serve as guest editors for this issue of AJLM. Both Drs Haegerich and Dahlberg have devoted enormous effort to these tasks and have done a remarkable job of selecting authors and editing manuscripts to yield this outstanding issue of AJLM. We also wish to thank Dr David Sleet, Associate Director for Science, Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention at the CDC’s Injury Center and member of the AJLM editorial board for helping us formulate the initial concept for this issue and identifying Drs Haegerich and Dahlberg as potential guest editors.
What has resulted from these efforts is an issue of AJLM that should be read by every practicing health care provider. Every article contains abundant evidence-based information with particular emphasis on practical and clinically oriented tools.7-12
The importance of this effort is emphasized in the foreword by Drs Linda Degutis and Robin Ikeda when they write, “Clinicians have responsibilities to their patients and to the community—to ensure that risks for violence are recognized; to work with patients and the community to take action to prevent violence; and to create partnerships with other organizations and agencies to weave the fabric of a nonviolent community, where people can live healthy and productive lives.”
We at AJLM agree with Drs Degutis and Ikeda. We are proud to be associated with this effort and delighted to collaborate with the CDC to bring this important body of information to our readers.