Copyright 2004
Report gives inside look at county
By Beth Rucker; Staff Writer
SECTION: LOCAL NEWS; Pg. B2
The rates of divorce, teen pregnancy, HIV diagnosis and death due to heart
disease are down in
The Community Research Council's annual Life in
The council, a local organization, studies information about the
"(The report) lets people see what the issues are and where money can best
be spent," said
Research shows that the divorce rate in
"I hope that means we've educated people how to be better prepared for
marriage," said Julie Baumgardner, executive
director of First Things First. "We're more educated about divorce and
that divorce does affect the community, and it does affect the economy."
Teen pregnancies are down 44.7 percent over the 13-year period, according to
the report.
"This is good news. However, there's still work to do," Ms. Baumgardner said.
In the health area, the report shows that diagnoses of HIV infection have
declined 61.2 percent, and AIDS diagnoses have dropped 50.3 percent since 1995.
Also, the proportion of
"That means that children are better protected against diseases,"
said Donna Needham, program manager for communicable diseases for the
Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department. "In the last few years, the
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has put a lot of emphasis on
health providers and parent to get children immunized."
Not all health news in the report was good, however. The percentage of babies
born in
"It's really kind of shocking," said Barbara Laymon,
health program manager for the health department. "We're looking at the
need to improve the health of the mother."
Mrs. Laymon said low birth weight could be attributed
to sexually transmitted diseases in the mother, alcohol and tobacco use, drug
and methamphetamine use, the mother's poor diet and too little time between
births. Children born with a low birth weight could face complications such as
cerebral palsy, seizure disorders, learning disorders and even death, she said.
Another negative trend reported by the Community Research Council
is the increase in Electronic Benefits Transfers, or food stamps. Average
monthly EBTs in the county have more than doubled
since fiscal year 1998-99, when it was at a nine-year low, the report found.
Positive economic indicators include a 64 percent jump in retail sales between
1990 and 2002, a 21.7 percent increase in per-capita income between 1990 and
2001 and a 60.5 percent increase in new housing since 1996.
Ms. Farrar said the total county population and the youth population are
stagnant, while the over-65 population has increased significantly.
"Medicare enrollment will only go up," she said. "It's also
interesting that new housing stock is going up and retail sales is going up,
but we're not adding any people. That's got to come from somewhere."
E-mail Beth Rucker at brucker@timesfreepress.com
ON THE WEB
To read the full Life in