Do the residents of Daviess, DeKalb and Livingston County have any one thing in common?
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Well, yes, according to several online sites that register such things. According to those findings residents of all three counties are alike in at least one respect — we eat too much, smoke too much and exercise too little.
There are several online resources that offer a snapshot of how healthy a county’s residence are. These rankings allow a comparison with other counties and the whole state.
Missouri’s Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS: http://www.dhss.mo.gov) is one of those sites. It provides data and statistics for cities, counties and states. The most recent statistics were gathered for 1998-2008.
According to the DHSS, heart disease is the leading cause of death for the trio of counties, followed by cancer. Not counting accidents and injuries, strokes and lung cancer on average took the most lives over the 10 year period.
Other interesting facts garnered from the site: All three counties rated above the state average for motor vehicle accidents. All three rated below the state average for Alzheimer’s disease.
Another report by County Health Rankings (www.countyhealthrankings.org) ranks Missouri counties according to their health outcomes and health factors.
Outcomes measures length of life and quality of life. Health factors depend on a lot of things, like health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors and physical environment.
Out of 115 counties in the state of Missouri, all three counties fell in the bottom third.
Daviess county ranks 75 in health outcomes and 79 in health factors. Caldwell County ranks 83 in health outcomes and 86 in health factors. Livingston County ranks 82 in health outcomes and 45 in health factors.
Health Outcomes: Daviess County has a 75 ranking for mortality (length of life) and a 82 ranking for morbidity (quality of life). Caldwell County has a 81 ranking for mortality and a 86 ranking for morbidity. Livingston County has a 84 ranking for mortality and a 79 ranking for morbidity.
Health factors: Daviess has a rank of 102 for health behaviors; 73 for clinical care; 38 for social and economic factors; and 29 for physical environment.
Caldwell has a rank of 106 for health behaviors; 86 for clinical care; 38 for social and economic factors; and 24 for physical environment
Livingston has a rank of 65 for health behaviors; 74 for clinical care; 27 for social and economic factors; and 71 for physical environment.
Breaking those health behaviors down to percent of population that indulges in unhealthy habits:
Daviess County: adult smoking 34%; Adult obesity 30%; Binge drinking 16%; Motor vehicle crash death rate 43; Chlamydia rate 112; Teen birth rate 49.
Caldwell County: Adult smoking 34%; Adult obesity 31%; Binge drinking 17%; Motor vehicle crash death rate 43; Chlamydia rate 204; Teen birth rate 39.
Livingston County Health Behaviors: Adult smoking 28%; Adult obesity 30%; Binge drinking 9%; Motor vehicle crash death rate 24; Chlamydia rate 231; Teen birth rate 52.