Pierce County--health trends

Emily Stone

Top 5 health trends

Pierce County, WA—Anthony Chen (Director of Health)

1. Affordable healthcare: Everyone deserves basic healthcare services. It is a human right to provide this necessary care in order to ensure a better quality of life. Washington has been working with various state insurances (such as Medicare) in order to promote this cause. Healthcare is becoming more readily available to its residents and the county is doing all they can at their level as well. Healthcare shouldn’t be a luxury—it should be a necessity.

2. Clean water: Washington has one of the highest drinking water qualities in the United States. We are privileged in Pierce County to have such high standards when it comes to water purification. My best friend’s dad is on the water board four Pierce County and they work very hard to ensure clean, fresh water. This is something that affects all quality of life. We, as humans need it to survive but so do the various plants and animals among us. This is such a vital component to work towards building a healthier Pierce County.

3. Obesity: Over the last decade or so, obesity has become a major conflict of interest. This is a nation-wide epidemic that has swept the country and is something not to be forgotten. Pierce County aims at providing the proper resources to ensure good eating habits, proper nutrition information, and campaigns for staying active. Even the school lunches have become much more health-conscious over the years to help contribute start these habits at an earlier age. Promoting good health practices helps us become aware of the issue, which in turn gives us the opportunity to better withstand this widespread trend.

4. Behavioral health risks: With good, comes evil—although there are so many good things we can do to our bodies, there are also several bad things. One of the big things that has been a constant battle with public health officials is tobacco use. Special taxes are enforced on these items to create inflation to hopefully slow down the use of these harmful products. Another big issue that is being brought to officials’ attention is underage drinking. More and more, schools are bringing in professionals to get kids aware of the harmful affects it can have on not just you but others as well.

5. Maternal and child health: Health officials keep a close eye on the low birth rates and infant mortality rates of Washington. Over the last 10-15 years, records are closely analyzed so that they can quickly and efficiently come up with solutions to help these rates decrease. There has also been a lot of discussion with youth about teen pregnancies and the effects that can have on the quality of life for both the mother and her child. Abortion is becoming more and more popular and this raises a whole new set of problems for health officials.