Obesity in Los Angeles County
The United States, while being one of the most technologically developed countries in the world, is not a healthy nation. Typically, when we think of disease pandemics we think of things like Swine Flu, Ebola, Lyme disease, etc. However, in the 21st century, we have a new pandemic that affects our children, adults, and eventually the whole population. Because of a more sedentary lifestyle, a proclivity for fast food, a high-fat diet, and hundreds of sugary drinks, obesity is now statistically so rampant that it is having a serious effect on American's health. Almost every researcher, whether medical or academic, as well as the public health sector, agree that there are statistical links between what we ingest and the consequences to our overall health profile. Certainly, all we need to is walk down any grocery store aisle, open up most magazines and newspapers, or watch advertisements and pop-up ads on the Internet to see just how obsessed Americans are with their weight (Robins, 1998). There are no real negatives to eating better, but certainly in our fast-food society it is often more difficult and expensive to opt for fresh fruits and vegetables and healthy alternatives that high-carb, high-sugar, processed foods (Overweight, 2008).
Assessment
Los Angeles County is the most populous county in the United States, with a 2010 population of almost 10 million. This is more than 42 individual U.S. States The county seat is Los Angeles City, which is the largest city in California and the second largest in the United States. As a county, Los Angeles is home to over 25% of California residents and one of the most diverse in the U.S. Geographically the county is 86% land and 14% water and has a diverse bio-system (mountains, valleys, forests, islands, lakes, rivers, and deserts). While the county's economic health is most often associated with the entertainment industry, it is also home to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and over 20 major corporations are headquartered there. The county is also home to about 1/3 of the State's illegal alien population, and more than 10% of the county are also illegal alien residents (Johnson & Hill, 2011). The county is also quite diverse in terms of religion, with hundreds of Christian churches, Jewish synagogues, Buddhist temples, Islamic mosques, Bahai centers, Hindu temples, Tenriko churches, Shinto centers and Sikh gurdwars. The Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese is the largest in the country with over 5 million members (USC Center for Religon and Civic Culture, 2005).
The racial make up of Los Angeles County is complex, particularly when using the definition of non-hispanic whites and anyone of hispanic or latino origin:
Because the county is so populous, there are of course very divergent racial and economic sectors within different cities. The population density is about 2,500 people per square mile with over 3.5 million housing units. What is also not so evident because the county has so many people is that it has the largest Native American population in the nation, even though it is small compared to the numbers of other ethnic groups. In terms of households, the breakdown shows:
The county has the highest number of millionaires in any county, almost 300,000 households. In contrast, the county has the largest number of homeless people, with over 50,000 people living on the streets. The median income is roughly $45,000 and the per capita income just under $25,000. 17.4% of the population lives at or below the National poverty line; of that 24% are under 18 and 11% over 64 (Nagopurney, 2010). As might be expected in an area of this size and diversity, there are a number of health issues despite a plethora of social service outlets, hospitals, clinics, and health care providers.
Health Concerns
Healthy People 2010 and now Health People 2020 is a governmental sponsored program in which there are science-based objectives for the health of all Americans. The program was established to: 1) encourage collaboration across regions and communities; 2) empower individuals to make informed decisions about their health and to take some responsibility for their healthcare, and 3) to measure the impact of health prevention activities across the nation. The power of the initiative is that it encourages prevention and communication across states, regions, ethnicities, and communities (About Healthy People, 2012). One of the major concerns for the initiative is obesity, and the resultant issues directly related.
Children are particularly at risk for obesity in developed societies. In fact, the obesity issue is epidemic in the fast-food, high-sugar cultures of the developed world. It is characterized by any condition...
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