Healthy Lifestyles

Jump to another page... Introduction Leisure Time Physical Activity Healthy Body weight Fruit Consumption Vegetable Consumption Use of Food Labels Smoking Use of Safety Belts Use of Child Safety Seats Health Insurance Coverage Routine Annual Medical Checkups Regular Dental Checkups Health Status Direct Care Physicians to Population Ratio Primary Care Physician to Population Ratio General Practice Dentists to Population Ratio

Smoking

Smoking is the single most preventable cause of death and disease. It is responsible for 87 percent of all lung cancer cases and 30 percent of all deaths from cancer. Stopping smoking is the best way for a smoker to lower their level of risk.¹⁴ The Healthy People 2010 goal is to reduce the number of people who smoke cigarettes to no more than 12 percent of the adult population.

Use of tobacco is gradually declining across the United States and Texas. In 2002, 23 percent of Texans smoked, in the period 2004-2005 the rate has declined to 20 percent.

In the period 2004-2005, 19 percent of Bexar County residents reported being smokers. The West sector reports the highest use of tobacco at 26 percent. The Northeast and Northwest follow with 20 percent of residents reporting current smoking. Residents of North Central and East sectors report smoking at rates of 16 and 15 percent respectively. The South sector has the lowest rate of smokers at 13 percent.

The proportion of the surveyed population who smoke cigars, pipes and use smokeless tobacco has increased from the rate of 3 percent in 2002 to 8 percent in the period 2004-2005.

In the period 2004-2005, an estimated 65 percent of Bexar County smokers tried to quit smoking for one day or longer in the past year. This rate is up from the 43 percent responding to the same question in 2002.

Use of safety belts

Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death among males under 45 and female Texans under 35. Unintentional injuries are the fourth leading cause of death in Texas, 40 to 45 percent of these deaths are due to motor vehicle crashes. These deaths are preventable. Regular use of seatbelts and child safety seats when traveling in

automobiles has proven to be an effective method of lowering mortality rates and reducing injury. Texas state law requires that seatbelts be worn by every person sitting in the front seat, and by all children under 17 years of age when an automobile is in motion.1 The National Highway Transportation Safety Agency reports that an occupant of an automobile is more likely to be killed if thrown out of a car in the event of a crash. Furthermore, the proportion of restrained occupants that were ejected during a crash was only 1 percent.¹⁵ The Healthy People 2010 goal for the number of people wearing seatbelts in automobiles is 92 percent. Data were not collected in the 2004 or 2005 BRFSS about seatbelt use but this remains an important concern. In Bexar County, 89 percent of those responding to the 2002 survey indicated they do wear seatbelts on a regular basis. This is lower than the Healthy People 2010 goal for seatbelt use, yet is a small improvement from 1998 when the proportion of seat belt wearers was 85 percent. People living in the East and Northeast sectors are somewhat more likely to wear seatbelts than those living in other areas of the county. Over 90 percent of the residents in the East and over 91 percent in the Northeast say they use seatbelts. The Northwest and West sectors follow closely behind with approximately 89 percent of residents wearing seatbelts. Over 87 percent of those living in the South and North Central sectors wear seatbelts.

Use of child safety seats

Texas state law requires that children be in a safety seat or restrained using a seatbelt when traveling in an automobile. The Healthy People 2010 goal is that all children aged 4 years and under will travel in an automobile using child restraints. The National Highway Transportation Safety Agency reports that child safety seats were found to reduce fatal injury in infants and children by 71 percent. New traffic laws in Texas became effective in September 2005. Texas’ HB 183 states that all children younger than 5 years of age or less than 36 inches tall, must be in a child safety seat.¹⁶

Data were not collected in the 2004 or 2005 BRFSS about use of child restraint in automobiles but this remains an important concern. In 2002, 93 percent of Bexar County residents responding to the survey indicated that they do routinely use safety seats or seatbelts for their children. Almost 95 percent of those who live in the East sector of the county use child safety restraints. The North Central sector had 94 percent of the residents responding they use child restraints. In the Northeast and the Northwest sectors, 91 percent are using child restraints when driving with their child in the car. Almost 89 percent of the residents in the West said they use child restraints.