SEATTLE, WA - Zero Population Growth (ZPG) has awarded the City of Seattle an A+ as a Kid Friendly City in America, ranking second only to Portland, Oregon in the overall rankings. ZPG rated Seattle particularly high in the health categories.
The City received an A grade in each of the following areas:
- Infant mortality rate
- Low birth weight rate
- Teen birth rate
- Number of Title X clinics, which play a crucial role in preventing unintended pregnancies
The full report is available on the KidsFriendlyCities2001web site at www.kidfriendlycities.org/2001.
"This report states what our residents have known all along. Seattle is a great place for kids," said Seattle Mayor Paul Schell. "The high rankings for health are especially noteworthy and point to the importance of continuing city support for child health programs."
"These high ratings represent a public health system success that is the result of work on the part of many community partnerships," said Dr. Alonzo Plough, Director, Public Health - Seattle & King County. "It's also due to a supportive political leadership that allows Public Health to maintain the capacity to assess and address the issues facing our children."
"Prevention efforts have been and will continue to be at the heart of all that we do for children," Plough added. "Even though we have received an A in all of these categories, we have more prevention work ahead of us in order to assure that all children grow healthily and safely into adulthood."
Receiving special notice in the report was Public Health-Seattle & King County's Tobacco Compliance Check program, the largest program of its kind in the nation. This program checks and educates more retailers than any other municipality in the United States. Teams of young volunteers go out with Public Health staff and attempt to purchase cigarettes from randomly selected retailers.
When Public Health began its tobacco compliance check program in 1989, Seattle and King County had a 66% illegal sale rate to minors. After doubling compliance check efforts, in 1997 the sale rate to minors has decreased to 5%. More information on this program is available at the Tobacco Prevention Program web pages at www.metrokc.gov/health/tobacco.
