That’s because about 57% of San Diego County adults have pre-existing medical conditions such as high blood pressure, heart and lung disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity.

San Diegans with underlying chronic conditions are at increased risks of serious outcomes if they contract COVID-19, requiring to be hospitalized, placed in intensive care or worse, dying.

To date, 95% of San Diegans who died from COVID-19 had underlying medical condition(s).

“COVID-19 deaths can be prevented,” said Wilma Wooten, M.D., M.P.H., County public health officer. “It’s important to remember that our actions matter. We must all do all we can to prevent from contracting and spreading the virus.”

It’s true that younger San Diegans with COVID-19 typically don’t need to be hospitalized. That is not the case for older adults. Of the 2,459 people who were hospitalized due to COVID-19, about 52% were 60 years of age or older.

By Lydia Wisz

A group of forward thinking “movers and shakers” in the clinical world together on November 9 to discuss how food profoundly matters. The Nutrition in Healthcare Leadership Team (NHLT) is a subcommittee of the San Diego County Childhood Obesity Initiative, a program facilitated by Community Health Improvement Partners. This public health program is supported through partnerships with, Health Care Without Harm and San Francisco Bay Area Physicians for Social Responsibility.

All of these groups have coalesced to strengthen San Diego’s healthcare systems to promote healthful and sustainable food practices. This training inspires us to take a serious look at how our western diet is linked to our western disease epidemic.

Obesity - The Solution, by Max Sturman (Do It Naturally Foundation, San Diego)

Book Review by Dennis Moore

February 20, 2011 (San Diego)--There is no more timely or urgent message than that found in Max Sturman's Obesity - The Solution. A February 1st story in the San Diego Union-Tribune states, "In a new attempt to help an overweight nation slim down and improve its long-term health, the government released new dietary guidelines that called on Americans to eat less, cut down on salt, bulk up on fruits and vegetables, and try water instead of sugary soft drinks."

Sturman, a 93-year-old San Diego author, has been delivering this message for years in fitness and healthcare books through his Do It Naturally Foundation, a non-profit that he founded.  His longevity is no accident--but, he believes,  the result of healthy living and a diet based on natural foods.