The Issues by the Numbers: Key Stats from Chicago and Beyond

@RedLineProject

Posted: Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2018

Teens and Tobacco Use

Although there has been a steady decline in tobacco use in the United States over the years, millions of teenagers are still using tobacco products and are main targets of tobacco companies.

The chart below shows that 19.6 percent of teenagers still use tobacco products on a regular basis. That totals to 2.95 million teenagers across the United States.

The Center for Disease Control and prevention still label smoking as the leading cause of preventable death in the United States and in the last years, a campaign has been launched aimed specifically at ending smoking among teens.--Aixa Gomez

Five Tips for Seasonal Affective Disorder

“Winter is coming,” is a line known worldwide thanks to HBO’s Game of Thrones. However, for some, that saying has a deeper connotation. Seasonal Affective Disorder is defined by Psychology Today as “a form of depression in which people experience depressive episodes during specific times of the year.” Seasonal depression is more common in the fall or winter with it subsiding in the spring.

How can the winter season have such an impact on individuals? According to Psychology Today, “it is related to the amount of melatonin in the body…darkness increases the body’s production of melatonin, which regulates sleep.” Therefore, as days get shorter, melatonin production increases; thus, resulting in sleepier moods.

Roughly 10 million Americans are affected by seasonal affective disorder (Psychology Today). Even more astounding is seasonal depression being four times more common in women than men. Those affected in age range as well; however, it is generally more prone to happen within younger populations. -- Daniel Cazares

Breaking Down the UIC and Champaign Campuses

The University of Illinois at Chicago has recently made headlines for it’s increase in enrollment and success despite struggles among other state schools. Increase in enrollment has pushed for improvements to the school and overall experience for students.

For years, UIC has been largely lived under the shadows of its sister school in Urbana-Champaign. So how does UIC’s latest enrollment boom compare to its sister school over at Urbana-Champaign? Below are some number via The University of Illinois System Data Portal from Fall 2017 enrollment and brief comparison of the school’s graduation rate and tuition. -- Areli Quintana

Breaking Down the Opioid Epidemic

Overdose is the leading cause of death among Americans 50 and under. Opioids are a class of drugs that include the illicit drug heroin as well as the licit prescription pain relievers oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine, fentanyl, and others (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2015).

Addiction is a primary, chronic and relapsing brain disease characterized by an individual pathologically pursuing reward and/or relief by substance use and other behaviors. In 2016, 42,249 people died from overdosing on opioids. The visual graphic below shares data that was recorded about opioid use in America during 2016. Data has been collected from the United States of America’s Department of Health and Human Services. -- Kevin Sherman

Illinois Craft Beer Scene

Illinois consists of 200 craft beer breweries and is ranked 12th by total number of breweries per state. This graphic shows craft beer statistics in Illinois, according to the Brewers Association. -- Kelly McGowan

The craft beer industry has been around for years. Many small and independent breweries produce over 6 million barrels of craft beer, making a big economical impact within the United States. In the visual below, statistics show the economical impact craft beer has in our country. This breaks down what states have the the highest sales, as well as jobs created from these industries. -- Maddie Rose

Indiana Craft Beer Scene

 There are 137 craft breweries that can be found in Indiana and is ranked 16th in the United States. Using information from the Brewers Association the graphic below highlights some aspects of craft breweries in Indiana. Some interesting points to note are that there are 2.8 breweries per capita ranking 21st. Also there are 240,063 barrels of craft beer produced per year. -- Cassandra Roman

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