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Healthiest Nation 2030: Healthy Communities

NPHW-2015-APUBy Dr. Robert Carter
Professor, Public Health at American Public University

What is public health? Public health protects and improves the health of individuals and communities, locally and globally. In our daily lives it translates into clean water, living free of diseases, and eating healthy wholesome diets. In order to maintain the status of our daily healthy living requires diligence and education, and for the public health community that comes about for the masses through National Public Health Week.

The theme for National Public Health Week this year is “Healthiest Nation 2030”.  This week is an opportunity for us to acknowledge the contributions of public health, discuss issues that are vital to improving communities and become the healthiest nation in one generation.

It is well established that a robust local and national public health system supports healthy communities, resulting in better disease prevention and health outcomes. Nationally, we have numerous programs and non for profit organizations working on prevention of infectious and chronic diseases to ensuring that our air supply is safe to breathe. Many of the faculty, staff, and students at American Public University collaborate with other organizations to improve the health and wellness of our individual communities, nationally, and globally.

Today, our ZIP code says far too much about our health. Within the United States, health disparities are unacceptable. Based on this year’s theme “Healthiest Nation in One Generation”, we know that public health starts with equity across our communities.

How can you help? How healthy is your community?

First of all you should research the health ranking for your county, or state.

My Facts & Stats:

I am a resident of Texas and we are ranked 31st overall in the United States. Our major weaknesses are high poverty rates, high uninsured rates for children and low physical activity scores. All of these social factors are linked to health disparities.

However in the past year in Texas, smoking decreased by 13 percent from 18.2 percent to 15.9 percent of adults. In the last year, obesity increased 6 percent from 29.2 percent to 30.9 percent of adults. In the past year, immunization coverage among children increased by 12 percent from 64.8 percent to 72.5 percent of children aged 19 to 35 months (source: http://www.americashealthrankings.org/).

I live in San Antonio (Bexar County), Texas and my city and county are doing well overall when compared to the other counties in Texas. However, we must address poverty in children, unemployment rates, and chronic disease prevention such as diabetes and heart disease.

Everett Koop, former U.S. surgeon general, summed up these differences by saying: “Health care is vital to all of us some of the time. Public health is vital to all of us all of the time.”

I urge the readers of this blog to gain a better understanding of their public health system and local community health issues. A good place to start is to become engaged in National Public Health Week’s themes and activities. Be sure to share on this blog the answer to this question, “How healthy is your community?”

Want to get involved? Learn more about, “How to Get Involved with National Public Health Week 2015.”

About the Author

Robert Carter PhD, MPH, FACSM is an Associate Professor in the Public Health Program, School of Health Sciences, American Public University.

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