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Cal Poly Alliance for Public Health

The Cal Poly Alliance for Public Health (CPAPH) is made up of several campus organizations dedicated to the advancement of health in all populations. Beginning fall quarter 2013, CPAPH launched the "This is Public Health" campaign for the Cal Poly community. The goal of this campaign is to increase awareness of the field and study of public health on campus. 

To introduce CPAPH’s “This is Public Health” campaign, attention-grabbing public health facts have been printed on red posters and coffee sleeves which can be found all over Cal Poly's campus. If they grabbed your attention, they did their job. We hope they sparked in you a desire to know more about public health. For more information, we encourage you to go straight to our sources:

17.6 million American families do not have enough food

Coleman-Jensen A and Nord M. Household food security in the United States in 2012. United States Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Report No. (ERR-155). September 2013.

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Life expectancy in the US ranks 46th among developed nations

Schroeder S. “We can do better- Improving the health of the American people.” New England Journal of Medicine 357 (2007): 1221-1228.

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25 percent of college students receive poor grades as a consequence of drinking

"College Drinking." National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health, n.d. Web. <http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/special-populations-co-occurring-disorders/college-drinking>.

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Heavy marijuana users can permanently lose up to 8 percent of their IQ

Meier, MH, A Caspi, A Ambler, H Harrington, R Houts, RSE Keefe, K McDonald, A Ward, R Poulton, and TE Moffitt. "Persistent cannabis users show neuropsychological decline from childhood to midlife." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109.40 (2012): E2657-2664.

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Playing with dogs and cats can lower stress and improve exam scores

Allen, KM, J Blascovich, J Tomaka, RM Kelsey. “Presence of human friends and pet dogs as moderators of autonomic responses to stress in women.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 61.4 (1991): 582-589. 

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More than 23 million Americans live in places with no access to healthy affordable food

Ver Ploeg, M, Breneman, V, Farrigan, T, Hamrick, K, Hopkins, D, Kaufman, P, et al. Access to Affordable and Nutritious Food: Measuring and Understanding Food Deserts and Their Consequences. United States Department of Agriculture. Administrative Publication No. (AP-036). June 2009.

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Two thirds of US adults are overweight or obese

Flegal, KM, MD Carroll, BK Kit, CL Ogden. "Prevalence of Obesity and Trends in the Distribution of Body Mass Index Among US Adults, 1999-2010.” The Journal of the American Medical Association 307.5 (2012): 491-497. 

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People who live in communities with sidewalks and parks walk more

 

Kaczynski, AT, LR Potwarka, BE Saelens. “Association of Park Size, Distance, and Features With Physical Activity in Neighborhood Parks.” American Journal of Public Health 98.8 (2008): 1451-1456.

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Davison, Kirsten K, and Catherine T Lawson. "Do attributes in the physical environment influence children's physical activity? A review of the literature." International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 3.1 (2006): 19.

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One in two sexually active persons will contract and STD by age 25

Cates, JR, NL Herndon, SL Schulz, JE Darroch. Our voices, our lives, our futures: Youth and sexually transmitted diseases. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication, 2004.

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Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students

Suicide Prevention Resource Center. (2004). Promoting mental health and preventing suicide in college and university settings. Newton, MA: Education Development Center, Inc.

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Exercise alleviates depression in 60 to 70 pecent of cases

Blumenthal, JA, MA Babyak, KA Moore, et al. “Effects of Exercise Training on Older Patients With Major Depression.” Archives of Internal Medicine 159.19 (1999): 2349-2356.

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Being without health insurance leads to 45,000 deaths per year in the US

Wilper, A.P, S Woolhandler, KE Lasser, D McCormick, DH Bor, DU Himmelstein. “Health insurance and mortality in US adults.” American Journal of Public Health 99.12 (2009): 1-8.

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81 percent of college students do not get enough sleep

Hicks, RA, C Fernandez, RJ Pellegrini. “The changing sleep habits of university students: an update.” Perceptual and Motor Skills 93.3 (2001): 648-648.

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Americans consume an average of 156 pounds of sugar every year

Wells, Hodan F, and Jean C. Buzby. Dietary Assessment of Major Trends in U.S. Food Consumption, 1970-2005, Economic Information Bulletin No. 33. Economic Research Service, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. March 2008.

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92 percent of adults have dental cavities in their permanent teeth

"Dental Caries (Tooth Decay) in Adults (Age 20 to 64)." National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. National Institutes of Health, 18 July 2013. Web. <http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/DataStatistics/FindDataByTopic/DentalCaries/DentalCariesAdults20to64.htm>.

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To find out how to get involved promoting public health on Cal Poly’s campus, visit the CPAPH and STRIDE Facebook pages.

If you are a Cal Poly student interested in pursuing further education in public health education, visit the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH), where you can find a list of accredited public health education schools and programs, including those offering MPH degrees.

American Public Health Association (APHA) is the nation’s largest professional organization dedicated to public health. APHA aims to “strengthen the profession of public health, share the latest research and information, promote best practices and advocate for public health issues and policies grounded in research.” For students, APHA offers APHA-Student Assembly (APHA-SA), “a student-led international organization within APHA representing students of public health and other related disciplines.” APHA-SA provides resources for students to work together on public health and student-related issues.

 

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