If there is one topic capturing the attention of both public health and primary care practitioners this year, it is childhood obesity. In October, PHMC’s Vice President of Research and Evaluation, Lynne Kotranski, Ph.D., presented findings from the Community Health Data Base’s 2002 Southeastern Pennsylvania Household Health Survey at the Health Promotion Council’s first symposium on the issue. Nearly four out of 10 children in the region are overweight or obese. The research was also presented at the Pennsylvania Public Health Association Annual Meeting and will be featured at the American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., this month. Click here to view the full presentation.

The Community Health Data Base will also present research on tobacco use and dental care at APHA. The presentation, entitled Dental Visits as Opportunities for Smoking Cessation Messages shows that approximately 325,000 smokers in Southeastern Pennsylvania visited their dentist in the past year and could have received smoking cessation messages. With the focus on outreach and intervention, tobacco control programs will continue to explore new and effective opportunities for promoting cessation. Click here to view the presentation. The 2004 Household Health Survey will yield new data on the topic, including information about people who have successfully quit smoking and the method they used to quit. This and other smoking-related information will also be used by the Community Health Data Base to evaluate county-wide tobacco control programs throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania in the coming year.

In a third presentation to be delivered at APHA, CHDB research investigates the need for -- and use of -- healthcare services by female Medicaid recipients in the region. Click here to view the presentation. The 2002 Household Health Survey data show a generally sicker population with a higher prevalence of chronic conditions and a greater need for mental health care. The 2004 survey data will present an opportunity to further track these unsettling trends.

Additional copies of the printed report, Health in Context: an Examination of Social Capital in Southeastern Pennsylvania, recently released by PHMC’s Community Health Data Base are available for distribution. Please contact johannat@phmc.org and specify the number of reports you would like to receive.

We look forward to the release of new data and hope to see you soon at the December 14th data release event, sponsored in part by Solucient, and featuring guest speakers from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital’s Office of Population Health and the Health Promotion Council of Southeastern Pennsylvania. Data binders will be distributed to Members – and then, it’s Happy Holidays!