Vivia Armstrong responded to an ad about obesity a couple of years ago. At the time, Armstrong, living in southwest Atlanta, knew all about weight problems. Being heavy is the only kind of life she has ever known. She described her struggle to GHN in an interview before the Atlanta premiere of “The Weight of…
Tag: Public Health
Largely preventable health conditions hamper U.S.
For a person accustomed to grim health data, one prediction still tends to be jarring: The current generation of American children may be the first not to live as long as their parents. Much of this projection is linked to the increase in health conditions such as obesity. These medical deficits in the U.S. health…
Two Georgia cities still bad places for air pollution
Atlanta and Columbus are doing better on air quality, but both have a long way to go. The two Georgia cities are rated among the worst metro areas for air pollution in the United States, according to the American Lung Association’s annual report on air quality, State of the Air 2012. The report, released last week, found Atlanta/Sandy…
Long weekends risky for teens?
After waking up at 7 a.m., 17-year-old Alex climbs into his car and buckles up. The Elbert County native heads out early on Monday mornings. Not to school, but to work. After the Elbert County Board of Education cut its budget last year by shortening the school week to four days, Alex landed a job so he could earn…
Agency urges restricted use of some scarce drugs
The Georgia Department of Public Health has asked EMS providers to reserve certain medications for the most critically ill patients, amid a shortage of drugs to treat people in emergency situations. The state agency is also exploring whether extending expiration dates on medications can serve as a remedy for the EMS drug shortages, which are occurring nationwide. Public…
County rankings show link between economy, health
A county-by-county ranking of health statistics, released earlier this month, showed a geographic divide in Georgia. Rural South and Middle Georgia counties were clustered at the bottom of the state’s health rankings, and urban/suburban at the top. Now economic factors have been added to those figures in a new list that shows a link between…
Life, death and booze — and Alcoholics Anonymous
“How do you know when an alcoholic woman consents to sex? She’s conscious,” said Kathy D., a comedian and alcoholic who tells self-deprecating jokes in her stand-up routine. Kathy is also a volunteer at Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings at the Triangle Club in Atlanta. She comes to talk to participants every Saturday. The participants are…
Carters urge Obama to act on mental health law
The Obama administration should finalize regulations and implement the law on mental health benefits parity passed four years ago, former President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter told an assembly of health journalists in Atlanta on Thursday. The law requires health insurers to cover both mental and physical health equally, with the same…
What’s wrong with our community health centers?
As Kaiser Health News journalist Phil Galewitz studied data on the nation’s community health centers, the statistics compelled him to visit Georgia. The overall national picture, published Wednesday in a KHN and USA Today story, is that hundreds of the nation’s nearly 1,200 federally funded community health centers fall short on major quality-of-care measures, according…
Shortage of emergency drugs alarms doctors
Georgia emergency physicians say a shortage of drugs to treat critically ill and injured people poses a ‘‘real danger to our patients today, without relief in sight.’’ The Georgia EMS Medical Directors Advisory Council, in a letter Tuesday to the state commissioner of Public Health, said EMS physicians are adjusting protocols because of the shortages,…