HUMBOLDT PARK — About 41 percent of Humboldt Park residents smoke, which is more than double the national rate, according to a health study recently released.
The measure was one of several alarming findings in the Sinai Community Health Survey, a study comparing health and safety standards across different parts of the city.
The survey looked at more than 1,900 people living in nine neighborhoods around the city: Chicago Lawn, Gage Park, Hermosa, Humboldt Park, North Lawndale, Norwood Park, South Lawndale, West Englewood and a portion of West Town (west of Western Avenue).
When it comes to smoking, Dr. Santina Wheat, the site medical director for Erie Humboldt Park Health Center, 2750 W. North Ave., wasn't surprised by the staggering finding.
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"I would've thought the number would've been higher," said Wheat, who has been seeing local, mostly Latino patients at the health center since 2010.
"The vast majority of my patients smoke. It's something we battle on a daily basis ... trying to get them to quit. It's such a hard thing to quit even if they're motivated. I think there are still a lot of people who don't think it's such a bad thing."
Humboldt Park ranked second for the highest percentage of smokers among the nine neighborhoods surveyed in the study. West Englewood ranked first at about 51 percent, according to the study.
Both rates are staggering because only 17 percent of Americans smoke, according to the study. The national rate hasn't come anywhere close to 40 percent since the 1960s.
Humboldt Park is the city's largest Puerto Rican enclaves. Though Mexican adults don't smoke nearly as much (only 13 percent) as non-Hispanic black adults (40 percent) nationally, the prevalence of smoking in Puerto Rican communities is higher than that of Mexican, Cuban, Central or South American communities, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Sinai study also found that one in eight Puerto Rican adults reported having unmet mental health care needs due to cost. About 21 percent of Humboldt Park adults reported anxiety symptoms compared to eight percent of Norwood Park adults.
Other findings included in the survey:
• Nearly half of men in Humboldt Park have been arrested. In North Lawndale and West Englewood, more than half of men have been arrested.
• Humboldt Park had the highest rate of adults with current PTSD symptoms (27 percent) among the nine neighborhoods surveyed. The symptoms were highest among Puerto Ricans (34 percent) and non-Hispanic blacks (20 percent).
• About one in three women reported having ever been a victim of intimate partner violence in Humboldt Park, as much as in North Lawndale and West Englewood. About four in 10 Puerto Rican women reported lifetime intimate partner violence.
• Half of the men in Humboldt Park reported having witnessed domestic violence. The rate was highest (35 percent) in South Lawndale, West Town, Gage Park and Norwood Park. The rate is highest among Non-Hispanic black men (67 percent), but Puerto Rican men (44 percent) rank second highest.
• Nearly half of all the households in Humboldt Park are affected by food insecurity. Nationally, only 13 percent of Americans are affected. The rate is highest among non-Hispanic black households (41 percent), but Puerto Rican and Mexican households (30 and 29 percent) rank second and third highest.
• About 21 percent of Humboldt Park adults reported anxiety symptoms compared to eight percent of Norwood Park adults.
Read the full survey here.
