The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have released the third annual County Health Rankings, an annual check-up that highlights the healthiest and least healthy counties in every state as well as those factors that influence health outside of the physician's office.
The rankings, which are based on the latest publicly available data for each county, highlight the importance of critical factors such as education rates, income levels, access to healthy foods and access to medical care in influencing how long and how well people live. The rankings consider factors that affect people's health within four categories: health behavior, clinical care, social and economic factors and physical environment. This year's rankings include several new measures, such as how many fast food restaurants are in a county and levels of physical inactivity among residents.
Key findings from the rankings are the following:
• Excessive drinking rates are highest in the northern states.
• Rates of teen births, sexually transmitted infections and children in poverty are highest across the southern states.
• Unemployment rates are lowest in the northeastern, Midwest and central plains states.
• Motor vehicle crash deaths are lowest in the northeastern and upper Midwest states.
The rankings, which are based on the latest publicly available data for each county, highlight the importance of critical factors such as education rates, income levels, access to healthy foods and access to medical care in influencing how long and how well people live. The rankings consider factors that affect people's health within four categories: health behavior, clinical care, social and economic factors and physical environment. This year's rankings include several new measures, such as how many fast food restaurants are in a county and levels of physical inactivity among residents.
Key findings from the rankings are the following:
• Excessive drinking rates are highest in the northern states.
• Rates of teen births, sexually transmitted infections and children in poverty are highest across the southern states.
• Unemployment rates are lowest in the northeastern, Midwest and central plains states.
• Motor vehicle crash deaths are lowest in the northeastern and upper Midwest states.
Related Articles on Population Health:
5 Hospital System Partner to Reduce Costs, Improve Quality
Michigan Primary Care Consortium Says Vaccinations Could Save State $500M
IOM Recommends Federal Agencies Promote Integration of Primary Care, Public Health