Politics & Government
Paulding Among State’s Healthiest Counties
The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released its third-annual health study Tuesday.
Residents of Paulding County are seemingly healthier than many of their neighbors in nearby counties, a study released Tuesday reports.
The rankings, published by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, allow more than 3,000 counties and the District of Columbia to compare how healthy their residents are and how long they live.
In the "Health Factors" ranking, which includes smoking, drinking and other behaviors, social and economic factors, and the physical environment, Paulding placed 21st of the 156 Georgia counties graded—Echols, Taliaferro and Webster counties were not ranked. Among nearby counties, Paulding’s ranking placed it behind 7th-ranked Cobb but ahead of 42nd-ranked Douglas, 51st-ranked Bartow, 58th-ranked Carroll and 88th-ranked Polk.
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In “Health Outcomes,” which took into account premature deaths, the percentage of adults reporting fair or poor health, percentage of live births with low birthweight and other factors, Paulding was 32nd in the state, with Carroll and Douglas counties close behind in the 33 and 36 spots, respectively. Nearby Bartow County was 51st while Polk was 124th. Cobb County had the sixth-best ranking in the state.
The County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2012 report for Georgia is attached to this article.
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Georgia Paulding Bartow Cobb Douglas Carroll Polk Health Outcomes (ranking)
32 51 6 36 33 124 Mortality (ranking)
21 63 5 36 44 122 Premature death 7,965 7,465 9,287 5,432 8,219 8,538 11,152 Morbidity (ranking)
55 52 11 42 27 121 Poor or fair health 16% 18% 21% 11% 16% 15% 24% Poor physical health days 3.6 5.1 3.7 3.0 3.6 3.6 5.0 Poor mental health days 3.4 4.2 4.5 2.9 3.8 3.6 4.6 Low birthweight 9.4% 7.4% 7.7% 8.1% 9.0% 7.5% 9.3% Health Factors (ranking)
21 51 7 42 58 88 Health Behaviors (ranking)
16 67 4 26 54 98 Adult smoking 19% 21% 26% 15% 15% 19% 25% Adult obesity 28% 26% 26% 24% 31% 31% 29% Physical inactivity 24% 25% 25% 21% 25% 25% 27% Excessive drinking 14% 11% 17% 17% 11% 12% 7% Motor vehicle crash death rate 17 17 20 9 17 23 28 Sexually transmitted infections 411 143 187 288 392 399 264 Teen birth rate 54 35 76 36 45 54 95 Clinical Care (ranking)
72 68 26 52 46 112 Uninsured 21% 16% 21% 20% 20% 21% 24% Primary care physicians 1,024:1 5,554:1 1,532:1 1,148:1 1,664:1 1,210:1 2,805:1 Preventable hospital stays 68 94 87 63 84 63 82 Diabetic screening 83% 83% 86% 84% 84% 84% 83% Mammography screening 66% 62% 64% 68% 66% 59% 65% Social & Economic Factors (ranking)
18 48 10 27 62 75 High school graduation 81% 82% 82% 87% 81% 80% 77% Some college 58% 57% 43% 72% 60% 48% 39% Unemployment 10.2% 10.6% 11.7% 9.7% 11.1% 11.1% 10.6% Children in poverty 25% 12% 22% 20% 19% 24% 31% Inadequate social support 21% 23% 19% 17% 18% 18% Children in single-parent households 36% 26% 29% 28% 35% 30% 36% Violent crime rate 470 284 391 322 280 764 352 Physical Environment (ranking)
107 114 144 154 152 95 Air pollution-particulate matter days 2 3 6 4 10 12 3 Air pollution-ozone days 12 11 2 26 25 5 12 Access to recreational facilities 8 10 6 10 5 10 7 Limited access to healthy foods 10% 14% 21% 7% 14% 23% 0% Fast food restaurants 50% 54% 47% 49% 50% 55% 52%
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