It takes just a few leisurely flips through Kings County's latest health document to notice a two-page spread that screams out for attention with a message: Eat less, eat better and lose some weight.

In the landmark health status report released Tuesday, Kings County's public health officials are tackling major issues facing residents -- especially obesity, diabetes, hypertension and heart disease -- head-on.

Facts and figures are a key part of the report. But first and foremost, the white paper calls for individual dietary lifestyle changes and gives simple formulas people can use to know how many calories they should be eating in a day to either maintain or lose their weight.

Department researchers have compiled and analyzed data for a year to create the 2008-2009 Kings County Community Health Status Report, the first of its kind in seven years and the most comprehensive and authoritative, officials said.

"We decided that we wanted to speak to the people of Kings County and tell them what we think are the major health issues facing the residents and give them some guidance on where they can start to look for what they can do to help themselves," said Dr. Michael Mac Lean, county health officer.

Mac Lean feels strongly about environmental factors that are making healthy choices harder, anything from lack of safe walking paths to unhealthy treats frequently available at working places. He says what is perceived as a "normal diet" has also been distorted by consumerism and food industry.

"One of the major underlining causes of death and disability is that we eat too much," Mac Lean said. "There's been an inflation in what we consider normal ... The fundamental message people in Kings County should get is that what we expect is reasonable in portion size and calorie density is excessive. That's why we're  overweight."

Obesity increases the risk for many diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke and osteoarthritis.And according to the report, about three out of five Kings County residents are overweight or obese.

So where do you start if you're concerned about your health?

The report urges one to first ask: "How many calories should I be eating today?"

It depends on a person's gender, weight and height and physical activity patterns. But generally the answer falls between 10 to 15 times the person's weight, according to the report.

For example, those who weigh 150 pounds and are happy with their weight need about 2,250 calories a day to maintain it. But those who weigh 180 pounds and want to weigh less should keep your daily calorie intake at around 1,800 calories as a general guideline.

"We tried to make it user friendly. It's news you can use. Our report is designed to encourage and facilitate individuals to enhance their own health status," said Keith Winkler, director of the Kings County Health Department.

The 84-page documents also covers the usual health indicators -- demographics,  ocioeconomics, health resources availability, environmental factors such as retail food sales and behavioral risk factors, environmental factors, communicable diseases and maternal and infant health.

Some items in the report stand out:

-- More than 11,000 people in Kings County have diabetes. Obesity is twice as common in Kings County as in the Bay Area. And so is the prevalence of diabetes. The age-adjusted death rate from diabetes for Kings County was 44.1 deaths per 100,000 population, compared with 22.1 for California as a whole.

-- Nearly 20 percent of Kings County residents are uninsured.

-- The rate of unplanned pregnancy in Kings County shows an upward trend. Nearly 18 percent of all pregnancies in the county were unplanned in 2006, a number far exceeding the state average of 13 percent.

-- Teenage pregnancy rates in Kings County have dropped from 98.5 per 1,000 in 1995 to 64.1 per 1,000 in 2006, but the rates remain among the highest in the state. According to the Public Health Institute, Kings County's teen birth rates ranked fourth in the state in 2007.

-- The rate of inadequate prenatal care in Kings County is high, and it's increasing. Between 1997 and 2006, the rate jumped from 9.5 to 19.3 per 100 live births, a rate more than double the state average of 9.0. More than 8 percent of Kings County pregnant women had late or no prenatal care in 2006, a rate four times the state average.

The reporter can be reached at 583-2429.

 (April 18, 2009)