East Bay Studies Reveal Health Disparities
Data released this month from local East Bay studies show wide disparities in several areas of health — and a subsequent impact on life expectancy.
A few key findings, from a series in the Contra Costa Times on these studies:
- In Alameda County, the life expectancy for an Asian American girl is 20 years longer than that of an African American boy.
- In Contra Costa County, children born into low-income communities have a life expectancy of 75 years, compared to 82 years in higher-income areas.
The studies, which considered both adult and child health, also looked at specific health issues such as obesity, asthma, and cancer. Detailed maps show obesity rates — as high as 41% in one school district in Alameda County — and rates of childhood asthma, available by city. These data showed significant disparities between cities in hospitalization rates for childhood asthma, from 800.7 per 100, 000 children in Oakland, to 118.4 per 100,000 in Pleasanton.
The studies were funded by the Hospital Council of Northern and Central California, and aim to help hospitals analyze and address local health needs. County officials say they’ll also use the data to focus their attention and resources on key issues and demographic groups.
If you don’t live in the East Bay – or even if you do – kidsdata.org offers data on cancer rates, asthma hospitalizations, weight, and many other issues for your community.
Kudos to the hospital council and Contra Costa and Alameda counties for generating and using such a rich data set. Such local data are invaluable for raising the visibility of serious child health issues in our communities.
Tags: Child Health Initiatives, Data Projects
Posted by kidsdata.org
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011 at 9:35 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.