Community Corner

County Health Ranks Among California's Best

According to a new report, Santa Cruz County is healthier than 82 percent of other California counties.

Say what you will about or , but Santa Cruz County remains one of the healthiest counties in all of California. 

County Health Rankings & Roadmaps released its 2012 report on the state of health nationwide on Tuesday, and the results are promising regarding locals and their overall constitution. 

According to the report, Santa Cruz County is the tenth healthiest county of the 56 ranked counties in California. It's worth noting, however, that this is down from seventh in 2011 and eighth in 2010. See the rest of the top ten below and click the map to the right to see the color-coded state with complete county rankings.

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1. Marin
2. Santa Clara
3. San Benito
4. Placer
5. San Mateo
6. Orange
7. Yolo
8. Nevada
9. El Dorado
10. Santa Cruz

The report is broken down into several categories, each with a handful of subcategories. The section in which Santa Cruz County really shines is what they call "Health Behaviors," where locals rank third in the whole state. Included in Health Behaviors is adult smoking, adult obesity, physical inactivity, excessive drinking, motor vehicle crash death rate, sexually transmitted infections and teen birth rate. In all but one of those subcategories, Santa Cruz County is below the state average.

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The county's lowest-rated category is "Social & Economic Factors," for which it is ranked 23rd in the state. The subcategories there include high school graduation rate, some college, unemployment, children in poverty, inadequate social support, children in single-parent households and violent crime rate. 

See the complete breakdown of the health of Santa Cruz County compared the state average and national benchmark below. The national benchmark is the desired national rate for each category. Less than 10 percent of counties nationwide meet the national benchmark. Santa Cruz County meets or exceeds the national benchmark in 13 of the 29 categories. 

Explanations for unclear categories can be found below the chart. 

Category Santa Cruz County National Benchmark California Average Premature Death 5,293 5,466 5,922 Poor or Fair Health 17% 10% 19% Poor Physical Health Days 3.1 2.6 3.7 Poor Mental Health Days 3.7 2.3 3.6 Low Birthweight 5.7% 6% 6.7% Adult Smoking 10% 14% 14% Adult Obesity 20% 25% 24% Physical Inactivity 12% 21% 18% Excessive Drinking 18% 8% 17% Motor Vehicle Crash Death Rate 11 12 12 Sexually Transmitted Infections 255 84 399 Teen Birth Rate 31 22 40 Uninsured 18% 11% 20% Primary Care Physicians 644:1 631:1 847:1 Preventable Hospital Stays 44 49 52 Diabetic Screening 82% 89% 79% Mammography Screening 68% 74% 63% High School Graduation 77% N/A 74% Some College 64% 68% 60% Unemployment 12.7% 5.4% 12.4% Children in Poverty 19% 13% 22% Inadequate Social Support 22% 14% 25% Children in Single-Parent Households 28% 20% 30% Violent Crime Rate 494 73 500 Air Pollution-Particulate Matter Days 0 0 16 Air Pollution-Ozone Days 0 0 51 Access to Recreational Facilities 16 16 9 Limited Access to Healthy Foods 7% 0% 5% Fast Food Restaurants 41% 25% 49%

Category Explanations:

Premature Death: Years of potential life lost before age 75 per 100,000 population
Poor Physical/Mental Health Days: Average per 30 days
Physical Inactivity: Percent of adults reporting no physical activity
Motor Vehicle Crash Death Rate: Deaths per 100,000 population
Sexually Transmitted Infections: Chlamydia rate per 100,000 population
Teen Birth Rate: Per 1,000 teen girls
Violent Crime Rate: Per 100,000 population
Air Pollution Days: Annual number of unhealthy air days
Access to Recreational Facilities: Facilities per 100,000 people
Limited Access to Healthy Foods: Population percent who are low income and do not live near a grocery store

Need explanations on other categories? Ask in the comments.

What do you make of the county health rankings? Are you impressed by our air quality? Depressed by our violent crime and bevy of fast food restaurants? Tell us in the comments!

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