This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

There's a saying in public health that a person's ZIP code plays a more important role in determining health than the person's genetic code.

Indeed, when taking into account all the factors that influence overall health, or lack thereof, a 2007 New England Journal of Medicine article attributed 55 percent of health status to social circumstances (such as education, employment, housing and access to transportation) and behavioral patterns.

We must make strides to improve the social circumstances of the tens of thousands of Utah adults and children who suffer from intergenerational poverty — impoverished adults who also lived in poverty as children, and their children currently living in poverty who are at risk of remaining in poverty into adulthood.

Utah's Intergenerational Poverty Commission is working to break this cycle, and the Utah Department of Health is working towards a solution in collaboration with other state agencies.

It's impossible to separate an individual's health status from economic status. Adults with significant physical, mental and behavioral health issues are often unable to work. Children in these situations often struggle in school. These struggles often follow them into adulthood, and ultimately affect their ability to obtain a good education and meaningful employment.

From conception through a child's early years, health makes a significant contribution to a child's success later in life.

It starts with a mother's ability to access timely, quality health care before and during her pregnancy. In Utah, low-income pregnant women have access to prenatal care through public health insurance. Unfortunately, fewer than 10 percent of the pregnant women experiencing intergenerational poverty who are enrolled in public health insurance plans take advantage of this important care.

The value of health care extends beyond pregnancy. And, fortunately, nearly all (94 percent) of the children living in intergenerational poverty are enrolled in public health care programs.

Visiting a doctor regularly during the first year of life is critical, and can lead to early identification and treatment of health problems and developmental delays. These conditions are often treatable, and can enable a child to enter school on equal footing with other children.

The Utah Department of Health is well positioned with a number of programs to help address many of these issues. Our Early Intervention Program helps identify developmental delays and provides treatment and instruction for the child and the family; our Violence and Injury Prevention Program connects families in adverse and abusive situations to find help; the Women Infants and Children (WIC) program identifies nutrition needs and provides nutritious food for young families; home visiting programs administered through local health departments offer counseling and other health services, and our Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) programs help deliver critical health care.

Several state agencies are working together to solve intergenerational poverty, and also have programs that can offer critical help. Individually, these programs are important tools. If we can do a better job of collaborating as communities and across agencies, we can be a much more powerful force to interrupt this ongoing cycle of poverty.

Joe Miner, M.D., MSPH, is executive director of the Utah Department of Health and a member of the Intergenerational Poverty Workgroup.