Clayton County Health District is committed to helping our community have long, healthy lives. We offer direct services and community development that includes education, outreach and referral services in order to enrich the lives of individuals and empower them to assume responsibility for their own health.
Preventing Chronic Diseases
The Prevention Services Division of the Clayton County Health District provides outreach services to Clayton County’s citizens. We encourage healthy habits to help prevent the development of obesity-related chronic conditions, like heart disease and stroke, cancer and diabetes.
Chronic diseases affect 6 in 10 Americans and have become the leading causes of death, disability and rising health care costs. By making healthy everyday changes to your lifestyle, you can prevent conditions such as high blood pressure or obesity, which raise your risk of developing the most common and serious chronic diseases.
How You Can Prevent Chronic Disease:
- Quit Smoking
Stopping smoking (or never starting) lowers the risk of serious health problems, such as heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and lung disease, as well as premature death—even for longtime smokers. Take the first step and call 1-800-QUIT-NOW for FREE support.
- Eat Healthy
Eating healthy helps prevent, delay and manage heart disease, type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases. A balanced diet of fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean meats and low-fat dairy products is important at any age. If you are overweight, losing even 5% to 7% of your body weight can help prevent or delay type 2 diabetes.
- Get regular physical activity
Regular physical activity can help you prevent, delay or manage chronic diseases. Aim for moderate physical activity (like brisk walking or gardening) for at least 150 minutes a week.
- Avoid drinking too much alcohol
Over time, excessive drinking can lead to high blood pressure, various cancers, heart disease, stroke and liver disease. By reducing alcohol intake, you can reduce these health risks.
- Get screened
To prevent chronic diseases or catch them early, visit a Clayton County clinic for screening services and physical exams.
- Get enough sleep
Insufficient sleep has been linked to the development and poor management of diabetes, heart disease, obesity and depression. Adults should get at least 7 hours of sleep daily.
- Know your family history
If you have a family history of a chronic disease, like cancer, heart disease, diabetes or osteoporosis, you may be more likely to develop that disease yourself. Share your family health history with your doctor, who can help you take steps to prevent these conditions or catch them early.
SNAP-Ed Program
SNAP-Ed is the nutrition education arm of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It offers adult education, social marketing campaigns and environmental support to improve the likelihood that families can make healthier food and physical activity choices within a limited budget, consistent with the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
The program also provides opportunities to engage with community partners to implement or support community garden activities.
For more information about SNAP-Ed, please call 678.610.7691.
Toy Safety
Toys play an important role in a child’s play and in most situations serve as the tools for learning. This is why it is so important to keep toy safety at the forefront of your mind.
Look to the following safety tips from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to help choose appropriate toys:
- Select toys to suit the age, abilities, skills and interest level of the intended child. Toys too advanced may pose safety hazards to younger children.
- For infants, toddlers and all children who still mouth objects, avoid toys with small parts, which could pose a fatal choking hazard.
- Look for sturdy construction, such as tightly-secured eyes, noses and other potential small parts.
- For children under 8, avoid toys that have sharp edges and points.
- For children under 8, do not purchase electric toys with heating elements.
- Be a label reader. Look for toy labels that give age and safety recommendations and use that information as a guide.
- Check toy instructions for clarity—for both you and, when appropriate, the child.
- Immediately discard plastic wrappings on toys, which can cause suffocation, before they become deadly playthings.