I spoke with Amy Bate who is a health educator for
the Tooele County Health Department.
1. 1. Cancer-
Cancer rates in Tooele County are above average compared with the rest of the
state. In Tooele County, the average cancer rate is 155.3 per 100,000 people,
while the state of Utah has a rate of 134.3 per 100,000. The United States has
an overall average of 158.6. When I asked why Tooele County has such a higher
average than the rest of the state, Amy said that it could very possibly be
related to obesity rates in Tooele County. Another possible reason could be
linked to substance abuse problems which includes tobacco.
2. 2. Substance
Abuse- Substance abuse has been linked back to the cancer problem in Tooele
County. Substance abuse also has a relation to the education issues that happen
in Tooele County. Of course, correlation
and cause are not the same but in Tooele county 3 out of every 10 teens has
some sort of substance abuse problem. There’s a severe problem with high school
drop-outs in Tooele county that can be linked to those teens who began taking
drugs at an earlier age. Substance abuse is also linked to unemployment rates
and other forms of abuse.
3. 3. Obesity-
In Tooele County, the obesity rates are much higher than those in the rest of
the state. At 30.7%, it can be inferred that about 1/3 of the adult population
is obese. People in Tooele County lack physical activity which is obviously
linked to obesity. Obesity is linked to type 2 diabetes which is another problem
in Tooele County. Obesity is found to be an adult consequence from childhood
habits. If health professionals could promote healthy diet and physical
activity from a young age, we could see a lower percentage of obesity.
4. 4. Diabetes-
there is a strong correlation between diabetes and obesity. Diabetes can also
be linked to chronic heart disease. Both of these diseases can be linked back
to healthy diet. There is a push in the Tooele County School District to get
rid of vending machines in order to reduce the sugar intake of adolescents. As
with many other issues, if health professionals can change the behavior of the
younger generations they can prevent issues like diabetes in the older
generations. Overall, Diabetes represents one of many chronic health problems
in Tooele County.
5. 5. Teen
Pregnancy- Teen pregnancy rates in Tooele County are among some of the highest
in Utah. Unfortunately, teen pregnancy rates are linked back to substance abuse,
leaving us to conclude that teenagers who participate in drug activity are more
susceptible to teen pregnancy. There is also an extreme lack of Sex Education
in Tooele County. Health officials are working with the school district to
broaden the sex education curriculum in health class. If the curriculum becomes
centered around sex education and if we can focus on solving substance abuse
problems, we can see a decrease in teen pregnancy.
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