Health Promotion & Preparedness
Resources for Healthy Lives
Many chronic diseases can be prevented, or their impact can be reduced by eating well, being physically active, avoiding tobacco, limiting alcohol consumption, and getting regular health screenings. The resources on this page can help you learn about risk factors for Chronic Diseases and measures you can take to limit your risk.
Common Chronic Diseases
More than 877,500 Americans die of heart disease, stroke, or other cardiovascular diseases every year. Heart disease and stroke are the first and fifth leading causes of death in the United States. Leading risk factors for heart disease and stroke are high blood pressure, high low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, diabetes, smoking and secondhand smoke exposure, obesity, unhealthy diet, and physical inactivity.
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, but many kinds of cancer can be prevented or caught early. Leading risk factors for preventable cancers are smoking, getting too much ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun or tanning beds, being overweight or having obesity, and drinking too much alcohol.
More than 37 million people in the United States have diabetes. People with diabetes are also at higher risk of heart disease, stroke, and other serious complications like kidney failure, blindness, and amputation of a toe, foot, or leg. People with diabetes spend more on health care and miss more workdays compared to people who don’t have diabetes.
Some people are at higher risk of type 2 diabetes, including those who are overweight/obese, are age 45 or older, have a close relative with type 2 diabetes, or are physically active less than three times a week.
Mental illnesses are among the most common health conditions in the United States. More than 1 in 5 U.S. adults live with a mental illness. About 1 in 25 U.S. adults live with a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression. There are more than 200 types of mental illness.
Obesity is a common, serious, and costly chronic disease of adults and children that continues to increase in the United States. Obesity is putting a strain on American families, affecting overall health, health care costs, and productivity. 1 in 5 children and more than 1 in 3 adults struggle with obesity.
Reducing Risks for Chronic Disease
Many chronic diseases are caused by key risk behaviors. By making healthy choices, you can reduce your likelihood of getting a chronic disease and improve your quality of life.
Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the U.S. Every day, about 1,600 young people try their first cigarette, and nearly 200 end up smoking cigarettes daily.
Over 16 million people live with at least one disease caused by smoking. Most people know quitting tobacco is an important step in protecting their health and the health of their loved ones, and most people who smoke have tried to quit.
According to the Wood County 2021 Community Health Assessment, 58% of Wood County Smokers had tried to quit in the past year. Fewer than one in 10 people are able to quit for good without the help of coaching or nicotine-quit medications. Fortunately, help is available - check out the resources and tools below to find support.
The Ohio Quitline is a free tobacco cessation program for Ohio residents. Professional quit coaches and an online community provide support and free access to nicotine quit medications. Whether you're ready to quit now, are curious about quitting, or you're supporting a loved one who uses tobacco, the Quitline can help. Call 1-800-QUIT-NOW to get started, or click below.
Wood County Community Health Center also provides counseling, including support to help you quit smoking. Call 419-345-9049 to make an appointment. Learn more by clicking below.
Resources for Parents
Good nutrition is essential to keeping current and future generations healthy across the lifespan. A healthy diet helps children grow and develop properly and reduces their risk of chronic diseases. Adults who eat a healthy diet live longer and have a lower risk of obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers.
Physical activity can improve health now and in the future. People of all ages, races and ethnicities, shapes, sizes, and abilities can benefit from more physical activity. Everyone needs both aerobic and muscle-strengthening physical activity, according to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition. Even short periods of physical activity can improve health.
Over time, excessive alcohol use can lead to chronic diseases and other serious problems, including alcohol use disorder and problems with learning, memory, and mental health.
Many of us are facing challenges that can be stressful and overwhelming. Learning to cope with stress in a healthy way will help you, the people you care about, and those around you become more resilient.
Getting routine preventive care can help you stay well and catch problems early, helping you live a longer, healthier life. Regular checkups are separate from any other doctor’s visit for sickness or injury. In addition to physical exams, these visits focus on preventive care, such as screenings, vaccines, and health education.
Social Determinants of Health
Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.
In the United States, 1 in 10 people live in poverty, and many people can’t afford things like healthy foods, health care, and housing. Employment programs, career counseling, and high-quality child care opportunities can help more people find and keep jobs. In addition, policies to help people pay for food, housing, health care, and education can reduce poverty and improve health and well-being.
People with higher levels of education are more likely to be healthier and live longer. Children from low-income families, children with disabilities, and children who routinely experience forms of social discrimination — like bullying — are more likely to struggle with math and reading. They’re also less likely to graduate from high school or go to college. This means they’re less likely to get safe, high-paying jobs and more likely to have health problems like heart disease, diabetes, and depression.
Many people in the United States don’t get the health care services they need. About 1 in 10 people in the United States don’t have health insurance. People without insurance are less likely to have a primary care provider, and they may not be able to afford the health care services and medications they need. Strategies to increase insurance coverage rates are critical for making sure more people get important health care services, like preventive care and treatment for chronic illnesses.
Many people in the United States live in neighborhoods with high rates of violence, unsafe air or water, and other health and safety risks. Racial/ethnic minorities and people with low incomes are more likely to live in places with these risks. In addition, some people are exposed to things at work that can harm their health, like secondhand smoke or loud noises.
Interventions and policy changes at the local, state, and federal level can help reduce these health and safety risks and promote health.
Social connection— the structure, function, and quality of our relationships with others—is a critical and underappreciated contributor to individual and population health, community safety, resilience, and prosperity. However, far too many Americans lack social connection in one or more ways, compromising these benefits and leading to poor health and other negative outcomes.
Adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood (0-17 years). About 64% of U.S. adults reported they had experienced at least one type of ACE before age 18, and nearly 1 in 6 (17.3%) reported they had experienced four or more types of ACEs.