Wednesday, Mar. 03, 2010

Wake rated state's healthiest county

Wake County is the healthiest county in the state, according to a report that ranks the overall health of people in all 100 counties.

Orange County ranked second-healthiest, with Chatham ranking fourth, Durham 11th and Johnston 32nd.

Poorer, mostly rural counties, including many of the northeastern and southeastern corners of the state, have poorer health, the report showed. Bertie and Columbus counties ranked at the bottom.

"There are big differences in health among North Carolina counties," State Health Director Jeff Engel said in a statement accompanying the report. Education, jobs, availability of healthy foods, and access to high-quality affordable health care all affect people's health, he added.

Those factors helped put Wake at the top, although Wake ranked near the bottom in environmental health, due in part of poor air quality.

The report, conducted by the University of Wisconsin and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is at countyhealthrankings .org .

Researchers also measured the death rate before age 75, the percentage of those who report being in poor health, and the rate of low-birth weight babies.

The report then looked at factors such as smoking rates, obesity, binge drinking and teenage pregnancy, as well as the availability of medical care and the number of uninsured.

Engel hopes the report will prompt community leaders to invest in programs that improve health.