Perhaps it's the state's historic ties to tobacco. Or maybe it's because of the barbecue, hush puppies and gallons of sweet tea. But for whatever reason, too many North Carolinians still use tobacco and remain far too inactive and fat, according to a report card grading health and prevention measures.
The report was released recently by N.C. Prevention Partners. It stated that the state's overall grades were unchanged from the last report card, issued in 2005.
"Despite some improvement in cutting smoking, the overall numbers did not change enough to raise the state above a 'C' grade in that subject," said the News & Observer. "And the news was worse in diet and nutrition, areas that again each garnered 'D' grades."
The good news is that tobacco use among middle and high school students is way down, and most of the state's hospitals are tobacco free. The bad news is that the "percentage of adults who are obese or overweight increased, and senior citizens and high school students showed no improvement. And there are few signs of change. Fruit and vegetable consumption among youths was actually down, despite unprecedented public attention to healthy diet in recent years. 'We're at the bottom, and unfortunately the trend is worsening,' said Meg Molloy, executive director of N.C. Prevention Partners. ..."
Click here for the complete article.
No comments:
Post a Comment