Rankings aren’t much different from state scores, previous years
By Nick Tabor, New Era Staff Writer
A
county-by-county survey of the nation’s health statistics hit the Internet on
Tuesday. From one perspective, Christian
County’s statistics are
jarring.
The
county scored significantly worse than the national benchmark in premature
death rates, people in poor or fair health, smoking, obesity, physical
inactivity, excessive drinking, deaths in vehicle wrecks, sexually-transmitted
infections, teen births, preventable hospital stays, unemployment, children
living in poverty, children in single-parent homes, inadequate social support,
violent crime rates, limited access to healthy food, and prevalence of fast
food restaurants.
But
from another perspective, this report brings no surprises at all; it only shows
Christian County is deeply situated in its time
and place. Comparing the new data with a 2007 statewide study shows Christian County’s health has not changed much in
the last five years.
Moreover,
Kentucky
ranked as the eighth unhealthiest state in a 2011 publication of the United
Health Foundation. Christian
County’s statistics are
close to state averages in most areas.
The
same is largely true of Todd and Trigg counties.
This
year Christian County ranked 51st, down five slots from 46th last year, among Kentucky’s 120 counties.
In the 2007 study by the Kentucky Institute of medicine, Christian County
ranked 54th.
Todd County’s
rank improved by 26 slots from last year, making it the 56th healthiest county
in Kentucky.
Trigg’s ranking changed from the 70th healthiest county to the 85th.
Minimal
changes
The
University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute
and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released the survey on Tuesday. It is a
compilation of mostly public data; its sources include the National Center
for Health Statistics, the Center for Disease Control and the FBI.
The
study’s overall scores factor in five criteria: the rate of people dying before
age 75, the number of people in poor or fair health, the numbers of days people
report being in poor physical health, the days they report of poor mental
health, and the number of infants with low birth-weights.
Some
of Christian County’s most extreme divergences from
the state and national averages occur in areas relating to sexual health. It
reported sexually-transmitted infections at a rate of 421, compared to the
state average of 311 and the national benchmark of 84.
It
reported a teen birth rate of 83, whereas the state’s average is 52 and the
national benchmark is 22.
Roughly
24 percent of Christian
County’s population is in
poor or fair health, according to the data. Compare this to 22 percent of Kentucky’s population
and the national benchmark of 10 percent.
Christian County’s adult obesity rate, 31 percent,
fell below the state average of 33 percent — but well above the national benchmark
of 25 percent.
Roughly
28 percent of Christian County’s residents consider themselves smokers,
compared to 27 percent of Kentucky’s
residents. The national benchmark is 14 percent.
Eighteen
percent of the county’s residents lacked health insurance, compared to 17
percent of Kentucky
residents and a national benchmark of 11 percent.
In
the Kentucky Institute of Medicine’s 2007 study, Christian County’s
numbers were similar to the current numbers in many major areas, including
obesity, physical inactivity, premature deaths and the number of uninsured
residents. The percentage of adult smokers increased from 20 percent to 28
percent over five years.
Todd
and Trigg
Todd County
showed improvement this past year in its mortality rate, which decreased by
about 16 percent.
Its
percentage of uninsured adults dropped from 27 last year to 22 this year.
Most
of Todd’s statistics stayed steady: obesity, smoking, those in poor or fair
health. The rate of sexually transmitted infections increased from 214 to 216;
the teen birth rate went from 43 last year to 42 this year.
But
its improvements sufficed to boost it 26 points.
By
contrast, Trigg’s mortality rate increased by about 15 percent.
Its
rate of sexually transmitted infections jumped from 134 last year to 231 this year.
The
New Era could not reach representatives from either Trigg or Todd’s health
departments for comment Wednesday afternoon.
Improving
infrastructure
Mark
Pyle, director of the Christian County Health Department, said Kentucky’s poor
health statistics — including Christian County’s — have actually persisted for
about 20 years, not just five. Millions of dollars spent on preventive health
care have not boosted the statistics significantly, he said.
“Our
society wants to do whatever they want, eat whatever they want whenever they
want until they get sick and then they want a pill to cure them immediately so
they can get back to whatever they want to do,” Pyle wrote in an email to the
New Era. “We all know that we need to eat right and get regular exercise.”
Still,
to ensure residents truly have a choice to live more healthy lives, this county
needs better infrastructure, Pyle said, especially public education on health
issues and free access to exercise opportunities. To this end, the health
department will support the creation of hiking trails and public
transportation, as well as a public smoking ban, Pyle said.
Pyle
has said the department will release its comprehensive community health
assessment later this year.
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