Jessica Washington

Jessica Washington

13 November 2012

Public Health

Danielle A. Daniels

Health Care Agency/ Health Policy and Communication

Public Health Community Trends: Orange County California

Whooping Cough

This has been a major health trend recently within Orange County.  More and more children have been diagnosed with Pertussis (Whooping cough). The community has realized that this has become a major issue and they have taken several precautions in order to prevent this disease from spreading. Every school aged child must receive the vaccination again, even if they have had the vaccine when they were younger. They call this revaccination.  This disease is extremely contagious and the community has gone to work to make sure that adults as well as their children have been given the vaccination.

Obesity

Not only is obesity prevalent in Orange County, but among the entire nation. People (mostly parents) have become extremely lazy when it comes to providing the proper nutrients for their children. It is way easier for parents to pick up fast food then it is for them to take the time to actually cook a well-balanced meal. Obesity has been more prevalent in Orange County because it is also cheaper to be unhealthy and there are certain areas in Orange County that are struggling with poverty.  When I asked Dr. Daniels if they ate unhealthy because they wanted to she said that most people say that they would rather eat healthier but the cost is just too much for them to handle.

Diabetes

When one thinks of diabetes they think of obesity. Well at least I do. But diabetes is also a genetic disorder. Diabetes runs in my family so this was of particular interest to me when I was doing my research. But when I was questioning my relatives about their eating and exercise habits, it was made clear to me that this was not genetic but brought on by their habits.  They are mostly from Louisiana and they are not big on exercise or healthy foods which are major cause for their diabetes. Many people in Orange County have become lazy and fast food is just too available. The citizens of Orange County need to start making better choices if they still want to go out and eat and avoid being diagnosed with diabetes.

Cardiovascular Disease (Lung Cancer)

This has become a major trend because more and more people have started to smoke in the community.  Not only are more people smoking, but they are starting younger and younger so by the time that they are actually old enough to smoke they are already at serious risks of lung cancer and other cardiovascular diseases. When I was talking to my family the other day my sister, who is in eighth grade, told me that people were caught smoking marijuana in the bathroom.  I feel that this is also caused because the media makes it seem like smoking and doing drugs is the cool hip thing to do and it is messing with children’s minds.  These kids have no idea how smoking now is going to affect them in the future. My community has recently implemented another say no to drugs program that will hopefully have a better impact on the children and maybe even the adults in my community.

Teen Pregnancy

I cannot even use one hand to count the amount of girls that were pregnant at my high school the past four years that I have been there.  They even brought their children to school after they gave birth and showed them off to everybody like it was the best thing ever. I overheard one girl exclaim that she got pregnant just so she could apply to be on the teen pregnancy show because she loved that show that much.  Once again this is a major example of how the media is influencing the minds of young teens to do stupid things. Dr. Daniels said that they are not positive on how to prevent this other than more lectures about safe sex and using protection. It is ultimately up to the couple to decide to abstain from sex in the first place.