Report ranks Marin the healthiest county in California

This is an article that appeared in the Marin Independent Journal last week (I added the italics and explanations) :

A new national report has judged Marin to have the best overall health of any county in California. The evaluation by the University of Wisconsin's Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation ranks the health of every county in all 50 states. It is unclear, however, how Marin would fare against counties in other states, since the report's methodology makes such comparisons impossible.

"It's a very nice recognition that we are doing many things right," said Larry Meredith, director of the Marin County Department of Health and Human Services.

But Meredith said that isn't the only reason for Marin's high ranking.

"Poverty is a huge factor in health and in Marin we are very fortunate to have a highly educated, affluent population," Meredith said. "That then leads to healthier lifestyles." (there is a strong connection between how much education a person has and the amount of money that person makes (affluence).  So keep studying.  Affluence allows for more lifestyle choices and better health care)

The least healthy is Del Norte County and other sparsely populated, rural areas in the northernmost reaches of the state. Several Bay Area counties ranked among the healthiest in California, including Santa Clara County at fourth-best, and San Mateo County at fifth. Contra Costa County came in at 19th, Alameda County at 23rd, and Solano County at 28th. Researchers analyzed 56 of the 58 California counties.

Researchers used five measures to assess the level of overall health in each county. These included: the rate of people dying before age 75, the percentage of people who reported being in fair or poor health, the number of days people reported being in poor physical health over the last 30 days, the number of days people reported being in poor mental health and the rate of low-birth weight infants.

Only 4,053 Marin residents per 100,000 of the population died before the age of 75 compared with the state average of 6,196 per 100,000. Only 7 percent of Marin residents said their health was fair or poor compared with the state average of 18 percent.

The report also ranked counties 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 the number of children living in poverty.

Patrick Remington, associate dean for public health at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, said the report can be used as a tool to identify what is making people in every county unhealthy.

"We hope this kind of check-up will mobilize community leaders to take action and invest in programs and policy changes that makes their counties healthier places to live," Remington said.

Marin outperformed the state average in a number of health behaviors including: adult smoking, adult obesity, deaths due to vehicle crashes, chlamydia rates and teen birth rates. But 18 percent of Marin residents reported binge drinking within the last 30 days, compared with the state average of 15 percent. (binge drinking means drinking a lot of alcohol in a short period of time.  Binge drinkers are often young adults looking for a thrill or with nothing better to do.  This is very dangerous.  Too much alcohol is bad news.  Stay away from it.)

"We've got a major issue there," Meredith said.

Marin received particularly high scores in the social/economic category. Fifty-four percent of Marin residents 25 or older reported having a degree from a four-year college, compared with the state average of 29 percent. Only 7 percent of Marin children under the age of 18 live in poverty, compared with the state average of 17 percent.

But Meredith said one problem with the report is that the affluence of a county like Marin can mask the reality faced by the hidden poor.

"We know that about 35 percent of the households in Marin are below the sustainability level," Meredith said. "You don't find that data reflected in this report."

He also called attention to the fact that Marin ranked 55th out of 56 counties on income equality.

"There are too many families and kids living in the shadow of affluence," Meredith said.