Central Florida counties keep health rankings in annual report

Seminole County once again ranks among the five healthiest counties in Florida, while the rankings for Lake, Orange and Osceola counties remained comparable to last year’s, according to the 2018 County Health Rankings released today.

“The rankings tell us where we live matters to how we live and how long we live,” said Ericka Burroughs-Girardi, a community coach based in Volusia County who worked on the report.

The analysis, prepared by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, takes into account more than 30 factors, including housing, jobs, access to medical care and transportation, using the most recent data available nationwide. It also took race into account for the first time, showing that health disparities continue to have a disproportionate impact on people of color.

The findings bore no real surprises, said Burroughs-Girardi, but they did bring two troubling issues to light: the decrease in child poverty rates has been slow, and the percentage of lowbirth-weight babies increased slightly after a decade of steady decline.

“It’s up to the community to invest in children,” she said. “It has to be the community coming together.”

The four Central Florida counties showed a modest decline in child poverty rates compared with last year, but the percentage of babies born at low birth weight remained about the same. Black children and babies fared worst in both categories compared to other races and ethnicities, the report shows.

In Orange County, the child poverty rate is 22 percent, and of that number, there are three times as many black children as white.

“That means that in Orange County they need to look at those pockets where we may see opportunities to improve health among African-Americans and Hispanics,” Burroughs-Girardi said. “And one of the best ways is investing in education. That’s the best way to break the cycle of poverty.”

Lisa Portelli, program director at the Winter Park Health Foundation, said in an earlier interview that implementing new policies can lead to longlasting change. Programs work only as long as they stay in place, she said.

In this year’s report, Seminole, Lake and Osceola counties ranked the same as last year — 4th, 24th and 30th, respectively. Orange County climbed one spot, from 16 to 15. The report also showed that St. Johns County ranked first and Union County last, just like last year.

Burroughs-Girardi emphasized that rankings are relative. Real progress can be measured by a change in individual factors such as diabetes rates or the number of uninsured.

“I encourage the readers to look at the rankings and use it as a call to action,” she said. “Community leaders should meet regularly to see what they’re going to focus on … find out who in [their] county is not thriving, because [they] really need to invest in them.”

The rankings are available at countyhealthrankings.org, where each measure is accompanied by suggested policies communities can implement for positive change.