Community Health Nursing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Community Health Nursing - Research Paper Example The black community in this area has a long history and has continued to show tremendous growth in many aspects as compared to the white population that has continued to diminish. Many African Americans making up the community moved to this area that was previously associated with the whites and have since become the majority according to the 2010 census statistics. The community has a rich culture a mixture of the black culture and the white culture of the Germans immigrants who used to stay in this place. Demographic and Epidemiological data Baden community has a total population of 7,268 people of which the blacks make up a total of 6,676 while the whites are 461. The American Indian and Alaska native are 9; the native Hawaiian and other pacific islanders have been found to comprise of 1 individual (US. Census Bureau, 2011). The Asian are 3 while other people of two or more races are 96 of which the Hispanic and Latinos have been found to be 27. The other category comprised of 22 people and this is according to the 2010 census results. The current population of Baden has declined since the 2000 census from 8,441 to the current 7,268 representing a -14% decline. This has been attributed to the high rate of crime in the area that has contributed greatly to the decline in the population. This statistics represent the general trend in St. Louis County where the general population has been declining since the last census (US. Census Bureau, 2011). Reports also show that the place is a food desert and therefore many people have no access to fresh food (Gustin, 2010). Research has shown that without access to fresh food many people develop a range of health problems that range from diabetes to other nutrition-influenced illnesses such as obesity (Omoleke, 2011). The food deserts issue does not seem to affect Baden only. Statistics show that the entire country is faced with the problem of food deserts where people cannot access fresh fruits and vegetables. Approxima tely 23.5 million Americans are said to be living in a food desert (The week, 2011). A food desert is defined by the US department of Agriculture as any census district where approximately 20% of the inhabitants are living below the poverty line and 33% are staying over a mile from the nearest supermarket (Starr, 2011). Both the lower end and the upper end of the American population are affected with the problem of food desert with the problem existing both in urban and rural areas. In America, areas such as West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky that are majorly rural are faced with this problem as well as areas such as Detroit, Chicago and New York which are in the urban category (Starr, 2011). Windshield Survey A closer exploration of Baden reveals a lot of information about this community. There are various types of housing in this areas and these range from modern houses to the old architectural designs of houses. Residential houses are seen to be many and of different categories. So me or good stone houses mansions while some like those around the train tracks are mostly houses that are built for convenience purposes. Many of them are in bad state. There are many schools in Baden most of which are private and these include kindergartens and elementary schools. Baden school is the only public school in the community and serves many students. Baden has many churches most of which are Christian churches and these include Church of God, Our Lady of the Holy Cross, Ebenezer Lutheran Church, Dove Covenant Christian Center, Holy