Living a healthy life has very many facets and determinants. An environment in which one lives would quickly shape the health choices one has to make. The environmental concerns of the Allapattah community critically determine their healthy living and their health objectives.
Community Overview
The Allapattah is the community in my neighborhood. It is in Miami, Florida. It is also close to the place where I work. The area is residential with few production or business buildings. The neighborhood mostly consists of small private houses with a few larger residential complexes. The community has various shops and businesses. Some firms include retail stores and service provision. There are also churches and other.
The Demographic Data
According to the 2010 US Census report, the Allapattah demographic profile indicates that the population is about 48,000. Miami has 401,927 people while Florida has 18,885,152 people. The population density at Allapattah is 9,152 people per square mile (Raju & Asfaw, 2009). The state of Florida has 365 people per square mile. The ratio of male to female is 1.1:1. The median age of the population is 39 years. The common languages in Miami, Florida are English and Spanish. But the majority of the citizens in Allapattah are Caucasia.
The population density in Allapattah is 18% lower than Miami. Other races include the African American and Asian people. Therefore, Allapattah has a multiethnic multi-lingual society. At the time of the Census, it had 13,753 households. There are high-rises, condominiums, and single family homes. The elderly also have their housing structures available.
Epidemiological Data
The larger part of the population in Allapattah is of moderate income. One of the major health problems is that people are overweight. Most people appear to either belong to the lower middle class or to be impoverished. People of all ages live here, but the middle-aged individuals are the most common (Dishion et al., 2015). Most people appear to be healthy. Not many visibly physically challenged individuals reside in this area. Some of the children appeared malnourished and underweight while some of the middle-aged individuals looked overweight. Despite that, most people seemed vigorous and healthy.
The health data from the county offices does not have significant illness problems from this area. The area does not have much pollution to warrant lungs or major organ diseases. The lack of nutritious food for their children is as a result of the economic problems that they face. Florida has approximately 200,000 births, 59.7% fertility rate, and about 180,000 deaths (Raju & Asfaw, 2009). The mortality rate is 920. The lack of the ongoing health preventative interventions is also an issue. In the community with low-income level promoting healthy food and offering free medical checks can have a dramatic effect on the well-being of the population. The lack of supervision over the children also appears to be an issue. It can lead to an increased risk of trauma and low school attendance levels.
Windshield Survey
Most of the families are complete with both parents available. Mothers seem to be the ones taking care of the children. The care for the families and children does not appear to be well coordinated. Many adolescent youths do not understand their roles in the society. They also do not take care of their personal life. Most teenage pregnancies originate from such families.
People in this community like sharing ideas and work. While outside their homes, people were talking freely and seemed to have something in common. They kids were also playing together in the available fields and compounds. Religion also plays a part in unifying the people in the area (Meylani, 2014). The Catholic Church in the vicinity was always full of people during masses. And hence, there were no apparent social problems.
There appears to be no sign of the alternative medicine practices in the community. The few health institutions in the area do not have a clear record of the health administration in the area. The City health managers and did not give a clear report of the health condition in the community. The hospitals and the clinics have several visitors. The main government facilities attract many patients who are not even the citizens of the community. They mainly attract people from the whole metropolitan area. There are no health campaign programs seen in the area. Visibly, there was no health education ads and campaigns (Raju & Asfaw, 2009).
The main health community problem is the overweight issue (Black et al., 2013). The Healthy People 2020 specific objectives that cater for physical activities are essential to the problem (Shalala, 2016). Inability to obtain or delay in obtaining necessary medical care, dental care or prescription medicines is a critical concern in this community. The absence of sports facilities has profoundly impacted on the health problem. Lack of nutritious meals significantly leads to overweight.
Conclusion
Healthy living is essential to all other activities in an individual’s life. Overweight may develop into other diseases like diabetes, heart diseases or high blood pressure. The preventive measures by the state and other organizations may help alleviate such suffering.
References
Black, R., Victora, C., Walker, S., Bhutta, Z., Christian, P., & de Onis, M. (2013). Maternal and child undernutrition and overweight in low-income and middle-income countries. The Lancet, 382(9890), 427-451.
Dishion, T., Mun, C., Drake, E., Tein, J., Shaw, D., & Wilson, M. (2015). A transactional approach to preventing early childhood neglect: The family check-up as a public health strategy. Dev Psychopathol, 27(4pt2), 1647-1660.
Meylani, R. (2014). Effects of a data driven, individualized and multifaceted intervention program on eighth grade students’ achievement in mathematics. IRE, 3(1), 1.
Raju, P. & Asfaw, A. (2009). Recalled test anxiety in relation to achievement, in the context of general academic self-concept, study habits, parental involvement and socio-economic status among Grade 6 Ethiopian students. Education 3-13, 37(3), 269-285.
Shalala, D. (2016). Physical activity and health: A report of the surgeon general | CDC. Web.