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Study Slams County Health

Posted on: Thursday, 7 April 2005, 18:00 CDT

Apr. 6--Once again, San Bernardino County leads the state with the highest death rate from heart disease.

And the bad news doesn't stop there.

The majority of the county's health problems are the direct results of how people live their lives, according to a county health status report by Public Health Officer Dr. Eric Frykman.

At least 60 percent of the county's adults are considered overweight or obese. About 37 percent of residents ages 18 to 19 are overweight or obese.

And 33 percent of the county's deaths are a result of smoking, poor diets, lack of exercise or a combination of the three.

Each is a leading cause of coronary heart disease.

Tobacco is the overall leading cause of death.

Although the county's Public Health Department has various programs geared toward combating these issues, Frykman said help may be needed from politicians.

"A lot of this has to do with politics and whether or not politicians are advocating for healthier lifestyles," he said after presenting a county health status report to the county Board of Supervisors. "If certain politicians are advocating enough, people will pay attention. If (politicians) aren't, then people shouldn't be electing them."

According to the state's Department of Health Services, for every 100,000 people in the county, 241 die each year from coronary heart disease.

In neighboring Riverside County, the rate is 215.

These rates are based on a three-year average of deaths from 2001 to 2003. The overall state average is 186 deaths per 100,000.

Frykman said the county is spending about $161 million each year on obesity-related issues.

A report released Tuesday by the state's Department of Health Services said obesity costs California $11.2 billion a year in lost productivity, $10.2 billion in direct and indirect medical care and $388 million in workers' compensation.

The $30,000 report was conducted for the state by North Carolina-based Chenoweth Associates.

Frykman said the county spends about $600 million a year on direct medical care, disability and lost productivity due to tobacco use.

Smoking has become a difficult issue because it's based on a personal choice, and it takes years before it has a significant impact on heart disease rates, Frykman said.

"Tobacco use is an affliction of the poor, the uneducated and the nicotine addicted," said John Morgan, a cancer epidemiologist for California Center Registry. "In the Inland Empire, though we're not the poorest, we're poorer than the average county in California. Additionally, the Inland Empire has the lowest proportion of our population completed high school, college and completed graduate or trade school."

Another issue is that the groups that smoke in the U.S., as well as California, are black men and non-Hispanic white men.

In the county, or the Inland Empire as a whole, Morgan said there is a larger population of non-Hispanic whites and blacks.

"We've actually benefited from the Hispanic population because they don't tend to smoke," he said.

Overall, smoking has declined among men and has hit a plateau among women.

Frykman's report did have some good news.

Infant mortality rates and teenage pregnancies are declining. Prenatal care is also going up.

The county experienced a very low influenza season and it is prepared for another West Nile Virus outbreak.

The county's ABC Restaurant grading system also showed promise.

Since its launch in October, complaints of food-bourne illnesses have declined. The average score of restaurants is 91 percent and the program's Web site has experienced 7.5 million hits.

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To see more of the San Bernardino County Sun, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sbsun.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, San Bernardino County Sun, Calif.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: San Bernardino County Sun

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