Editor's note: Notice what has made this wonderful thing possible and it wasn't church-sponsored potlucks for kids!!
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SANDY’S LIGHTHOUSE |by Sandy
Gresak
DuPage Co. ranks 20 on “America’s Healthiest Counties
for Kids”
DuPage County has
been named one of "America's 50 Healthiest Counties for Kids," according to a
new set of rankings released by U.S. News and World Report. With a rating of No.
20, DuPage is the only Illinois county to make the list, which highlights
communities that "are safe and child-friendly," according to the DuPage County
Health Department. "This ranking is a result of the health department's
commitment to the health care needs of all DuPage County children and families,"
said Linda Kurzawa, president of the DuPage County Board of Health. Researchers
from the University of Wisconsin's Population Health Institute reviewed data
related to infant deaths, birth weights, teen birthrates, injury death rates and
poverty levels to determine the rankings.
DuPage scored 87.2
out of a possible 100 points. The analysis is the first national, county-level
assessment of how health and environmental factors affect the well-being of
children younger than 18, according to DuPage officials. Maureen McHugh, the
health department executive director, said DuPage traditionally has ranked high
in other studies that examined the health of counties. "Do we think we're a
great place to live, work and raise your family? Absolutely." McHugh said
Wednesday.
What has officials
excited about the latest ranking is that it comes at a time when poverty is
climbing in DuPage. Roughly 11 percent of the children in the county are living
in poverty, according to the report. "The numbers support the work we've been
doing to expand capacity and programs to meet the needs of a new population in
DuPage," McHugh said. The health department, for example, provides Women,
Infants, and Children (WIC) and Family Case Management services to more than
24,000 people annually. It also offers a dental sealant program for eligible
children, a mobile dental van and an urgent care clinic in Wheaton. In addition,
DuPage benefits from having quality hospitals and community partners working
together, officials said. "We certainly have schools involved," said Karen
Ayala, director of public health services. "We have human services involved. We
have medical providers involved. Everybody gets on board and really works to
make the program successful." DuPage, for example, launched an initiative in
2009 to encourage active living and healthy eating. The FORWARD initiative now
has 1,165 coalition members working to reduce the number of children who are
overweight or obese, officials said. "We don't look at issues from one vantage
point," McHugh said. "We look at them from a communitywide perspective, because
there's not one solution." Last year, instructors taught healthy behaviors to
23,488 children and others, officials said. The children learned to prevent
diseases instead of attempting to manage them later in life.
Thank you to Paul Sjordal for
allowing me to borrow from his newsletter. If you would like to receive Paul’s
newsletter,
(national, state & local
news) you can contact him at psjordal@yahoo.com
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