You’ve probably heard the statistics about 2/3 of Americans being overweight or obese. This problem doesn’t escape Chatham County. In fact, according to the 2006 Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, 59.4% of adults in the Chatham/Lee/Moore region were overweight or obese.
Our kids aren’t doing much better. The 2008 North Carolina Nutrition and Physical Activity Surveillance System (NC-PASS) states that 36.4% of Chatham County children seen in North Carolina Public Health sponsored WIC, child health clinics, and school based health centers were overweight or obese.
Healthy Chatham coalition took the lead on the Board of Commissioners’ 2010 fiscal year goal of coordinating obesity prevention efforts in Chatham County.
Healthy Chatham and the Chatham County Public Health Department brought together stakeholders working on and interested in obesity prevention. Representatives from local government, Chatham Hospital, Chatham County School system, agencies, non-profits, and community members convened for a series of meetings.
The three meetings were held between July and December 2009. The purpose was to identify existing obesity prevention programs, figure out how to better coordinate efforts, and develop ideas to recommend to the Board of Commissioners.
As a result of the meetings, stakeholders created four recommendations that would address obesity at multiple levels.
The recommendations are:
Establish a NewCounty Position Focusing on Obesity
Implement a Community Social Marketing Campaigns
Develop Infrastructure to Support Healthy Lifestyles
Encourage More Cooperation between Schools and the Community
It is May and we’ve already felt the 80-90 degree hot summerlike days. While it may be tempting, and you think you will only be gone a minute, do not leave your child in hot, unventilated vehicles.
Every year, children die as a direct result of being left alone in a hot vehicle. According to the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) Foundation, a child’s body temperature can get as high as 106 degrees Fahrenheit in as little as 10 minutes. As a result, damage to the brain and vital organs, heat stroke, dehydration, seizures, and death can occur.
Never let your children play in an unattended vehicle.
Make a habit of looking in the vehicle before you get out.
If your infant or young child travels in a rear-facing car seat or the back seat, keep a reminder for you in the front seat, for example, a stuffed animal.
Always lock the doors and keep any keys out of reach from children.
If you see a child left alone in a hot vehicle, call the police. If they appear in distress, don’t hesitate, get them out as quickly as possible, cool the child rapidly and call 911 or your local emergency number.
Click here to see a Consumer Reports video about heat in cars.
National Nurses Week was recently
observed from May 5-12. This week is time set aside each year to give special recognition to nurses. Chatham County Public Health Department nurses impact the health and well being of the residents of Chatham County in a positive way.
Our public health nurses have a love of people and the community and they work hard to promote health and to be an advocate for those who have no voice.
Public health nurses have been an important part of the teams that worked on the following projects:
H1N1 and seasonal influenza vaccinations
Improving clinic schedule to allow easier access to medical appointments
Adding more clinical services at the Pittsboro clinic
Chatham County public health nurses continue to use their education and problem-solving skills to protect the health and safety of the community. Some of the areas of focus include:
Increasing awareness of the dangers of lead exposure to children and pregnant women.
Providing assessment and case management allowing the aged and disabled to remain in their homes.
Disease outbreak investigation.
Alerting schools and physicians about current disease trends
Working with the school nurses to immunize children
Even if you missed National Nurses Week it’s not too late to tell a nurse that you appreciate the work they do to improve the health of individuals, families or communities. It will make his or her day!
Public Health Month is over but one question I often get is, “What is public health?” and the second is, “What does public health do for me?” Press the play button on the video below to get the answers to both questions.
Have you finished watching the video? As you just saw, public health isn’t just about the individual. Public health aims to affect the health of communities and prevent disease and injury before they happen.
Research has shown that the most effective ways to affect the public’s health is through making changes at the environmental and policy levels and improving social determinants of health.
The World Health Organization defines social determinants of health as “the circumstances, in which people are born, grow up, live, work and age, and the systems put in place to deal with illness. These circumstances are in turn shaped by a wider set of forces: economics, social policies, and politics.” Examples of social determinants of health are income, education, occupation, where one lives, among many other factors.
Let’s examine asthma and how the social determinants of health could have an effect on someone’s life. Robert dropped out of high school and makes the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour at a local fast food restaurant. He is unable to find a job that pays better due to his lack of education. Because of this, Robert and his 7 year old son live in an apartment without hot water and electricity that doesn’t work all the time. The rent is $375 a month but the house is old and not kept up well. Roaches are seen crawling all over the apartment at all times of day. Mold can be seen on the walls. Robert has complained to his landlord numerous times about the mold and roaches but the landlord refuses to do anything about either problem.
The mold and roaches trigger Robert’s son’s asthma. Robert’s son misses a lot of school and Robert has to miss work to stay home with him on those days. In the past year, Robert has had to take his son to the emergency room several times. The bills have totaled more than $5000 because Robert’s job doesn’t offer health insurance. So the bills keep piling up.
Robert’s son can’t get a break from the poor air quality in their home because the air in their neighborhood is polluted. Bus stations in the area constantly have buses idling and spreading their exhaust. A few years back, the town council approved industrial zoning almost in Robert’s backyard. Several nearby factories spit dark smoke on a daily basis.
Even if the air was clean, there wouldn’t be a place for Robert’s son to play. There are no trails, playgrounds, or ball fields to play in the area. And the neighborhood has one of the highest crime rates in the city. Because of all of these issues, Robert finds it hard to keep his son and himself healthy.
The story of Robert and his son illustrates why it’s important for public health to address the social determinants of health.
It is also important to remember that individuals need to take responsibility for their own health by practicing healthy behaviors. Examples are eating a nutritious diet, being physically active, not smoking, and always wearing a seatbelt. The environment plays a role as well.
Practicing the above behaviors is a lot easier when you can go into a restaurant and find nutritional information about meals easily, there are trails and parks near your home, there are fewer and fewer public places that allow smoking, and penalties that are enforced for not wearing a seatbelt. Public health has advocated for all of these changes as we realize that the way to a healthier America is “one community at a time.”
Congress recently passed a health care overhaul bill that President Obama signed into law on Tuesday, March 23rd. The $940 billion Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will take about 10 years for the full law to go into effect. The new law will affect health insurance companies, employers, children, drug makers, Medicare, and wages. To read the full text of the bill, click here.
What may have been hidden in the passage and signage of the law was the fact that several prevention measures were also included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. These measures encourage healthy lifestyles through physical activity, healthy eating, and changes to policies and built environments. The purpose of these additions to the bill is to remove barriers that make it difficult for the public to live healthfully.
The major changes in the bill are:
Chain restaurants will have to provide nutrition information on their menus. That salad you have regularly at lunch that you thought was healthy? You’ll be able to see that it really has twice as many calories and fat than you thought.
Employees must provide “reasonable break time” for nursing mothers. This requirement is in effect for up to one year after the birth of the child. The “reasonable break time” has not been defined but the state of Oregon uses the standard of 30 minutes to express milk for every four-hour work period.
Health insurance companies will have to cover all recommended screenings. This includes preventive care and vaccines with not co-pays or deductibles costs.
Medicare recipients will get free annual physicals.
Medicaid will cover drugs and counseling to help pregnant women stop smoking.
The creation of a new federal trust. This trust will pay for more bike paths, playgrounds, sidewalks, and walking trails in communities.
$15 billion over 10 years. These funds will be used for a prevention and public health fund for community prevention programs to change the physical and social environment and policies.
These changes are forthcoming and put more focus on the public’s health and how to create a healthier nation. Local public health agencies in North Carolina are collaborating with the medical community to evaluate and plan for the impact of the new health care bill.
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