 Residents of Luzerne and Lackawanna Counties: consider the white glove thrown down. It is now up to you to pick it up, slap each other in the face with it, and commence the duel– a fight to improve the health of your county. If you don’t, the average person in Luzerne County will die by age 76, and the average person in Lackawanna County will die by age 76.4.
Community Health Status Indicators (CHSI), which provides information for citizens interested in improving their community’s health, recognizes key health indicators (cancer; heart disease; tobacco, alcohol, drug use; diet; physical activity; sexual behavior) as contributors to individual premature deaths.
According to the report, in Luzerne County, population 312,861, 26.1% of adults report no participation in any leisure-time physical activities or exercise in the past month, 76.1% report eating fewer than 5 servings a day of fruits/vegetables, 23.7% are at risk for health problems due to being overweight/obese, 30.1% responded “yes” when asked if they’ve ever been told by a health care professional that they had high blood pressure, 28.7% answered “yes” when asked if they currently smoke cigarettes, and 10.1% responded “yes” when asked if they’ve ever been told by a doctor that they have diabetes.
Lackawanna County, population 209,575, didn’t fare much better: 26% reported no exercise, 72% ate less than 5 servings of fruits/vegetables a day, 21.6% are at risk due to being overweight/obese, 32.1% have been told they have high blood pressure, 28.8% are smokers, and 7.4 % answered “yes” to the diabetes question.
So, what’s the bar for Northeastern Pennsylvania’s 14 counties and who set it? Pike County, population 56,337. See Pike’s and the other 11 counties’ results at www.communityhealth.hhs.gov. One of CHSI’s goals is to encourage conversation between neighbor and neighbor as well as between county and county. Sometimes seeing the facts in black and white is just the motivation you need to make a healthy change. And, a good rivalry can add some kerosene to that flame. King’s vs. Wilkes. Penguins vs. Flyers. Duke vs. North Carolina. Why are wins against these teams so important and memorable? They’re hometown or same-state rivals and they’ve been trash-talking each other for decades. Their loyalty and competitive spirit is hard-core.
How loyal are you to your county? How competitive are you? Have you ever had a “friendly” discussion over who has the better St. Patrick’s Day parade? Steamtown or Wyoming Valley Mall? Cinemark or Movies 14? Courthouse or Public Square? How passionate were you in defending your county’s offering? Channel that energy into taking care of your health, by competing with each other, and you’ll win a much greater battle– the fight to live a longer, healthier life.
If the assignment of writing this article about the health of our “area” was given in any other year than 2010, it would have been practically impossible. Until this February, facts about the overall health of America’s counties were piecemeal at best. That was until the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute released the County Health Rankings, “the first set of reports to rank the overall health of every county in all 50 states.” (www.countyhealthrankings.org)
“Each county is ranked within the state on how healthy people are and how long they live. They also are ranked on key factors that affect health such as: smoking, obesity, binge drinking, access to primary care providers, rates of high school graduation, rates of violent crime, air pollution levels, liquor store density, unemployment rates and number of children living in poverty.”
Counties are ranked in four categories: 1-17, 18-34, 35-50, and 51-67. The county ranked #1 is the “healthiest.” The one ranked 67? Not so much.
Northeastern Pennsylvania, with the exception of Pike #6, Bradford #12, and Columbia #14, did poorly. Here’s how we measured up, in numerical order:
Sullivan #38
Montour #39
Susquehanna #41
Wyoming #43
Monroe #46
Lackawanna #51
Northumberland #55
Carbon #56
Luzerne #57
Schuylkill #60
Wayne #62
For the record, Chester County ranked #1 and Philadelphia County #67 came in last.
Also measured were two types of outcomes–– mortality (how long people live) and morbidity (how healthy they felt while they’re alive). For mortality, Centre County ranked #1, Luzerne ranked #60, and Lackawanna ranked #55. For morbidity, Snyder County ranked #1, Luzerne ranked #50, and Lackawanna County ranked #44. To reiterate, those numbers are based on a scale from 1 to 67.
Now that you know, what will you DO? |
