O.C. Ranks 1st in Southland in State Health Report

Orange County residents ranked No. 1 in Southern California and No. 6 in the state in a health survey that included all but two of California's 58 counties.

The ranking is produced annually by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and evaluates the overall health of Americans nationwide. The ratings are based on data on premature death, the percent of people who report being in fair or poor health, the number of days people report being in poor physical and poor mental health, and the rate of low birth-weight babies.

San Diego County came in at 18; Los Angeles was No. 28. Riverside County came in at 32.

Researchers also outlined factors that contribute to a community's health, including behaviors like smoking, drinking and teen births, clinical care, social and economic factors and the physical environment.

"The rankings remind us that there is a lot more to health than health care alone," said Dr. Patrick Remington, associate dean for public health at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. "Where we live, learn, work and play matters to our health."

Orange County's results were better than the state average in all categories, including the report's measures of particulate matter and ozone, the percentage of uninsured residents, rate of violent crime and rate of transmission of chlamydia.

In order to assess how healthy people are and how long they live, researchers also looked at how many fast food restaurants are in a county and the levels of physical inactivity among residents. More than one in five Orange County residents (21 percent) is obese, according to the report. However, that's still lower than the California average, which is 24 percent. See the table here.

Marin and Santa Clara counties ranked No. 1 and No. 2, and Trinity County -- with a population of less than 14,000 -- ranked 56. Sierra and Alpine counties, which together have a population of only about 4,400, were not included.

State rankings are done independently, and the data does not lend itself to state-to-state comparisons.

—City News Service