Alex Cattich - Highlands Ranch, CO

I was able to learn more about the public health trends in the last 10 years in my home district in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. I was able to talk to Shelly in my home school districts health office and talk to my mother who works at one of the hospitals in my town. Different trends I learned about were pregnancy (most importantly teen pregnancy) rates, post partum depression, birth defects, marijuana use and water fluoridation. 

One trend that I wanted to ask about was teen pregnancy and health rates. I was able to talk to Shelly, who works in Douglas County School District. In high schools, they are pushing for more abstinence rather than protection. In a recent survey they concluded that 41% of high school aged kids have never participated in intimate relationships. HIV and Aids are not a huge threat as only 15% of cases in the past 5 years have been people between the ages of 13-35. This is still a high number, and is a concern and they are trying to find alternative ways to help these statistics decrease.

Also in the school system, I asked about tobacco and marijuana use. Because of the new law recently passed about marijuana possession, I asked if there was any increased worry about kids now having it and selling it in schools. There has been a committee called, “Tobacco Education, Prevention and Cessation Grant Program.” Prevention and education are the 2 main things the people and professionals can do. They are not as nervous for an increase of marijuana and tobacco in schools but they have to always be ready.

Post partum depression is a prominent problem in Colorado. Statistics say that 1 in 9 women suffer from post partum depression. In my moms hospital, they work on relationships between the parents, both mom and dad and focus on increasing relationship between the mom and baby. Physical contact of mom to baby helps the baby grow and develop at a normal rates.  When skin-to-skin contact a hormone called oxytocin is released and it stimulated positive interaction between the mom and baby.

Another topic that I was able to talk about with my mom was spina bifida, and lack of folic acid in the diet. Although this is not a big threat in my mother’s hospital and neighboring hospitals because prenatal vitamins are readily available, there are still some cases of spina bifida. People do not see the importance of pre-natal care, and also others don’t make the effort, or have the money to pay for care. This is a huge issue in other parts of the state and in places where the resources aren’t readily available. This is an example of where you live helps determine the kind of health care you receive and also the education and information that is available to you.

My final topic I discussed was the fluoridation of water to help reduce dental decay. This is a community wide effort and they said that for the last 55 years water fluoridation has been proven as safe and effective in prevention of tooth decay in the population. In Colorado, currently 70% of all public water sources are affected by fluoridation. My town, Highlands Ranch, uses 2 prime water sources for our water, and aquifer and South Platte River. All the water in my town and the neighboring town (Centennial), is tested on a regular basis and meets all the regulations and requirements. I was able to talk to the Centennial Water and Sanitation District.