Teen Pregnancy

Is having a baby when you're 17 a good idea? Of course not, but you can make it work, and you do have choices. Mind you, I'm not advocating for youth pregnancy in any way; in fact I work in an industry that attempts to do just the opposite. However, if you are a teen, and you do find yourself pregnant, there are resources for you, and additionally, don't let anyone put you down, make you feel inadequate, or stupid, or try to control your decision. Show them how smart you really are by sharing these stats with them........and know you are indestructible.

1. Are teens really the source of all unplanned pregnancies? Come on.......

-While the majority of pregnancies to teens are unplanned, teens do not account for the majority of unplanned pregnancies, and they do not have the highest rates of unplanned
pregnancy.

2. Are we talking about kids under 18 having babies when we say unplanned pregnancies? No.

-Women in their 20s account for 1.6 million unplanned pregnancies—54% of all
unplanned pregnancies.

3. So what percentage of unplanned pregnancies are actually to teens? Take that....

-Unplanned pregnancy is clearly not just a teen issue. In fact, less than one quarter
of all unplanned pregnancies are to teen girls.

4. And the rest? Hmmm......

-Nearly 900,000 unplanned pregnancies
occur to married women (30% of all unplanned pregnancies)

5. So, teens are just dumb right?

-Nearly one half, or more than 1.1 million
unplanned pregnancies occur to women with at least some college education.

Source: Finer, LB and Henshaw, SK (2006). Disparities in Rates of Unintended Pregnancy in the United States, 1994
and 2001. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 38 (2):90-96. Accessed 9/2009 from The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. DCR Report.

Healthiest Nation in One Generation

Click on the title of my blog post to find out more about what public health is/does and check out this great video. A fellow colleague of mine found it and I think it captures the essence of who we are. Enjoy! ;-)

Faith

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate....that is the question

posted by CNN: 
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/08/13/hpv.vaccine.gardasil/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

This article was posted on cnn.com and presents some interesting opinions on the new vaccine to prevent HPV (Gardasil). What are your thoughts on this? Take my survey on the right side bar and I'll post results, and my opinion in a few weeks...........

What is Public Health, anyway?

A professor of mine once described public health this way: Two young men were fishing in a river. As the older of the two men cast his bait out to the middle he saw a body floating down the river before him. He was awestruck as another body floated by, and then another one. When his partner began to run from the river, the older man asked "Won't you help me pull these bodies out of the river?" to which the young man replied "I'm going to see who's pushing them in!"

When I say I work in Public Health the first question I get asked is "Are you a nurse?" Nope.
"Oh, do you work in a lab?" Nope.

I don't fault them for this--the field as a whole is still vying for its niche. Basically, what we do can range from coordinating social research projects (like what I do) and conducting research, writing reports, etc. to becoming an advocate for tobacco prevention (for example), to putting up mosquito nets to ward off Malaria. Public health plays an important role in disease prevention in developing and developed countries.

The key component of public health is that it is focused on a) prevention rather than the cure (or an upstream approach), and b) it deals with population-level, rather than individually-focused health issues. In other words, we are interested in improving the health of the community as a whole as opposed to an individual intervention.

Be safe and healthy!
Faith

Welcome

Hi,

My name is Faith and I decided to start this site because of my passion for public health. I have a Masters degree in Public Health with a focus on adolescent risk behavior (read more in "About Me." My interest in health issues stems not only from my personal experiences, which I will share throughout this site, but also from my passion for debate. I realize not everyone shares my views and although I have always been comfortable expressing my opinion on public health-related issues, I have never attempted a blog before--so be gentle. This site will be dedicated to public health-related issues, current and proposed policy, and education. I hope you find this a safe, welcoming forum with which to express your opinions, ask questions, comment, and ultimately strive to improve the health of our nation. That is my goal after all.....

Enjoy and be safe,
Faith