Michael Larson
Public Health Trends

11/12/12

These Public Health trends come from Davis County, UT. I received this information from Cindy Burnette. She is the Davis County epidemiologist.  This is the location of my hometown Kaysville. I was really taken off guard by some of these trends. As I grew up in this area I wasn't really aware that these things were going on in my area.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases
The first trend that we discussed was really the one that shocked me the most. In Davis County there is an alarming increase of sexually transmitted diseases. This is being caused by the increase of people meeting up for casual sex through internet sites. The reason that this was surprising to me is that Davis County is around 90 % LDS.

Access To Care
While Davis County is generally a very well off affluent community, there is still a good portion of the population who are living in poverty. These people live without health insurance, and aren't able to get the amount or level of care that they need. With the hard economy and other problems this trend is rising in Davis County.

Aging Population
The population in Davis County is aging. The amount of older people compared to young people is increasing. Along with this there is an increasing trend of diseases associated with aging such as alzheimers.

Obesity
Because of the increasing availability and low cost of fast food Obesity is beginning to be a problem in Davis County following national trends.

Tobacco Use and Drug Addiction
Tobacco use continues to be one of the leading causes of death in Davis County. Also the percentage of the population abusing prescription drugs is increasing.

These are the top five public health problems that are trending in Davis County.