A.V. SMOKING TOPS COUNTY HEALTH REPORT ALSO SHOWS HIGHER CRASH FATALITIES.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Antelope Valley residents are 34 percent more likely to be smokers, 19 percent more likely to receive late or no prenatal care and 2 1/2 times as likely to die in a car crash as other Los Angeles County residents.

The statistics were contained in health report cards for the Antelope Valley and seven others areas issued Wednesday by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.

``The beauty of the report really is it gives people a good profile of what life in the community means in terms of health so they can see how they stack up against other parts of the county,'' said Deborah Davenport, area health officer for the Antelope, Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys.

``It's helpful for people to understand what they need to get done to improve health in the community. It gives a good view of what communities need to focus on in terms of improving health,'' Davenport said.

The report also showed that the Antelope Valley has fewer tuberculosis cases, teen pregnancies and incidents of diabetes than the county average.

The information was compiled using sources including telephone surveys, death certificates and data gathered from other agencies such as the United Way.

In the Antelope Valley, 24.4 percent of adults smoke, compared with 18.1 percent countywide, and 11.2 percent of children age 5 and under are regularly exposed to tobacco smoke at home, compared with the county average of 6.5 percent, the report said.

In a related category, the Antelope Valley's lung cancer death rate of 51.9 per 100,000 population is higher than the county average of 38.1 per 100,000, the report said.

The highest rate of 54.7 per 100,000 was in South Central Los Angeles, the report said.

The asthma rate among Antelope Valley children is also the highest when compared with the rest of the county. A total of 8.2 percent of children in the region have asthma, compared with 6.1 percent countywide, the report said.

Deaths related to car crashes in the Antelope Valley totaled 15 per 100,000 residents, compared with 6.1 per 100,000 residents in the county, the report said.

``We have much higher speeds in terms of commutes for people,'' Davenport said. ``On our community roads where we have stop signs in unpopulated areas, people run stop signs.''

The incidence of death due to diabetes in the Antelope Valley was 17.8 per 100,000, compared with the county average of 20.9, the report said.

Births to teen-age mothers were 52 per 1,000 in the Antelope Valley, compared with 53 per 1,000 in the county, the report said.

While the overall infant mortality rate in the Antelope Valley is lower than the county average - five per 1,000 births versus 5.4 - the rate of infant deaths among African-Americans in the Antelope Valley is slightly higher - 11 per 1,000 births in the Antelope Valley compared with 10.5 per 1,000 births in the county, the report said.

``Infant mortality for African-Americans is still too high. In the population in general they are higher,'' Davenport said.

Davenport said her office is working with First Missionary Baptist Church in Littlerock and other agencies that have received aid to develop an infant health program.

``The grant works with African-American women who are pregnant to make sure they receive adequate prenatal care and baby care after the baby is born, to assist in a healthy delivery and ensure infants have a healthy entry into life,'' Davenport said.