Public health officials report stark geographical disparities in L.A. County

Residents in the poorest neighborhoods of Los Angeles County continue to face living conditions that are significantly more unhealthy than more affluent areas, according to a report released today by public health officials.

The Key Indicators of Health report compares a range of environmental, economic and health factors in eight geographical regions of the county, known as SPAs, or service planning areas.

In the South SPA, which has the highest rate of poverty, the report also found that more than a third of adults and nearly 30% of children are obese. The area's homicide rate for adults younger than 35 is three times that of the countywide average.

"Again and again we see that unhealthy living conditions place the most vulnerable segments of our populations even more at risk," said Jonathan Fielding, the county's public health director.

Education levels also varied substantially. In the South SPA, nearly 40% of adults never completed high school, a rate that drops to 5.4% in the West SPA, according to estimates.

Countywide, the high school graduation rate was about 58%. In the South SPA, with the lowest rate, only about 35% of ninth graders who entered high school graduated four years later. In the Metro SPA, which includes the downtown area, the rate was about 44%, the report found.

Geographical differences also were found in the rates of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, cigarette smoking, diabetes, infant mortality and asthma. Whether people reported reading daily to their young children also varied, from a high of about 75% in the West SPA to a low of about 36% in the South SPA.

Read the complete report: Key Indicators of Health

-- Megan Garvey

Comments

[Joe]

What the headline failed to indicate is, of course, that every single one of those "unhealthy living conditions" is the direct result of the behaviors of the "vulnerable segment" of the population. Maybe its time we stopped paying people who are clearly unable to take of themselves to multiply like rats.

[,maria]

It's absurd to claim that poor living conditions cause obesity while noting that these people are also much less educated. It's the lack of education which correlates to their poverty and poor lifestyle choices. They could take a bus to a shop with fresh fruits and vegetables and all the fast food places serve salads and grilled chicken sandwiches which are healthy options to fried foods, whether from McD's etc. to Mexican joints where the tasty burritos and frijoles and bacon-wrapped hotdogs drip with grease.

It's often a cultural issue -- the kinds of foods poor Latinos eat are often fatty and lots of breads, while poor African-Americans might prefer more fried foods typical of local restaurants like "Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles" where the chicken is laden in grease (though delicious), cajun places serve fried fish and fries, and that's what I see people eating. There are poor immigrants from Asia who eat more vegetables and rice stir-fried in less grease and aren't usually as fat.

Sure filling foods are often the cheapest, greasiest ones but being educated on how to choose wisely is better than banning restaurants like Jan Perry controversially wants to do. Teach people how to make a choice.

Excercise is also a choice. Even without gym equipment people can walk or do indoor aerobics if afraid to go outside.