Vanessa Manwill-Health Trends

I was able to talk with Jeanette Anders who is a representative for Hospital and Health Care in Tucson, Arizona. She said that it was tough to pick the top 5 health trends because they are constantly changing during the year but she gave me these 5 which seem to always be a problem: immunizations, child obesity, STD's, depression, and lack of nutrition education.
1) Immunizations seem to be a reoccurring problem every year especially during this time. Because it is flu season, health professionals can't stress enough how important it is to make sure that the majority of the population, especially children, receive their immunizations. Some people do not believe in vaccinating their children against these diseases and it is believed that this will cause major problems later in life if they do not receive these shots.
2) Child Obesity has become much more of a problem in the past decade as new technology has been invented and become a bigger part of our life. Children are not spending as much time participating in active activities and exercise as they used to and instead, spend their time on computers, television, video games, and more. This is resulting in higher obesity rates for all Americans, with a high percentage for children. Professionals are noticing this more and more and are trying to find ways to help children become a more active people again.
3) STD's are something we have heard about and know about but as the general public, we really have no idea how much of a concern it is. Rates for STD's not only in Arizona but all across the country are continually rising. Late teenagers up to mid-twenties are when STD's are the most common. Although not much can be done post receiving the disease, professionals spend plenty of money trying to educate people in the prevention aspect of this problem to try and decrease the number of individuals who are victims of this health trend.
4) Depression has always been an unfortunate part of life. Many people at some point in their life may feel signs of depression in themselves. Feeling this way without being medicated or helped through some sort of specialist can lead to attempted suicide among teenagers especially. Public Health specialists notice the need for help to avoid depression. This health trend is a hard one to help prevent since it deals so much with the inner feelings of each person but it is believed that with a lot of hard work and effort, that the number of depression cases can start to turn around and decrease.
5) Lack of Nutrition Education is a huge problem now more than ever. With fast and convenient food on almost corner and like I mentioned earlier, less of a desire to participate in being active, children and teenagers are starting to think that they are healthy even when participating in these things. They no longer know what being healthy means and how to achieve that. Money is spent in health education to change these awful habits but it becomes difficult because of the price and difficulty to change past habits.
This assignment was rather enjoyable because I got to learn about these different health trends and  hear what professionals in this field are doing to try and change the negative patterns that we see in our every day lives.