Putnam ranks as the state's 10th healthiest county

Friday, March 22, 2013

Putnam County dropped three spots but stayed in the top 10 in the fourth annual report ranking the health of Indiana counties released Wednesday.

Ranking as the 10th healthiest in Indiana, Putnam County continues a four-year trend in which it has been ranked between seventh and 12th healthiest in the state.

In the seven categories used to determine the overall rating, Putnam County ranks in the top 10 only once.

The county is sixth in morbidity rating, followed by 19th in mortality and 26th in health behaviors.

Other ratings include 40th in health factors, 47th in social and economic factors, 50th in clinical care and 75th in physical environment, according to the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's annual report.

The study ranks the overall health for every county in all 50 states by using a standard formula to measure how healthy people are and how long they live.

Nationally, the data revealed that unhealthy counties have more than twice the rate of premature deaths than healthy ones and childhood poverty rates are twice as high in unhealthy counties.

The rankings allow counties to see how they compare to other counties within the state based on a range of factors that influence health including high school graduation rates, obesity, smoking, and family and social support.

This year's rankings include new measures, such as how many dentists are in a community per resident.

"Statewide, we know that we have major improvements to make in infant mortality, childhood immunizations, obesity and smoking," said State Health Commissioner William VanNess, M.D. "The annual County Health Rankings provide us with an additional data set to show exactly where Indiana communities are struggling, as well as providing resources to assist them with their improvement plans."

Among neighboring counties, Hendricks made headlines by moving up to the No. 2 in 2013. Clay ranked 29th, while Morgan was 39th, Parke was 44th, Montgomery was 45th and Owen was 48th.

According to the rankings, the 10 healthiest Indiana counties are Hamilton, Hendricks, Boone, Dubois, La-Grange, Wells, Brown, Tippecanoe, Whitley and Putnam.

The 10 counties with the lowest health outcomes are Lawrence, Vermillion, Sullivan, Orange, Jennings, Starke, Blackford, Fayette, Crawford and Scott.

Individual health factors were measured against the state average, as well as the national benchmark, which is set at the 90th percentile.

Among some of the more interesting figures, Putnam County recorded:

* A 13% poor or fair health rate (16% state average; 10% national benchmark).

* A 31% obesity rate (31% statewide; 25% benchmark).

* A 23% adult smoking rate (24% statewide; 13% benchmark).

* A 30% physical inactivity rate (27% statewide; 21% benchmark).

* A 10% excessive drinking rate (16% statewide; 7% benchmark).

* A 16% rate of uninsured adults (17% statewide; 11% benchmark).

* A 62% fast-food segment of restaurants (50% statewide; 27% benchmark).

For more about information or to view the report, visit www.countyhealthrankings.org.

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