title: We can do better than last place: improving the health of us women.
abstract: Life expectancy for US women lags behind that for women in other countries. Factors contributing to inequitable health for women are complex and include policy, community, healthcare access, and the interaction between the patient and her healthcare provider working within the healthcare system. We propose a societal pyramid of health accounting for the effects of these different factors and their impact on prevention, screening, diagnosis, and management of disease using the examples of smoking and obesity, two of the most important yet modifiable risk factors for chronic disease and death among US women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Boston University School of Medicine, Massachusetts, United States.
authors.forename: Rebecca B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Perkins
authors.affiliation: Women's Health Unit/Department of General Internal Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Massachusetts, United States.
authors.forename: Bonnie J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Sherman
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatrics, Boston University School of Medicine, Massachusetts, United States.
authors.forename: Rebecca A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Silliman
authors.affiliation: Women's Health Unit/Department of General Internal Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Massachusetts, United States.
authors.forename: Tracy A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Battaglia
keywords: Women; community; mortality; obesity; smoking