Floyd in top 50 healthy Georgia counties
Obesity is among the factors causing concern locally and in surrounding counties, according to a new study.
Floyd County is wellknown for its comparatively high number of physicians, but several other factors also come into play to put it among the top 50 healthiest counties in Georgia.
The 2018 County Health Rankings & Roadmaps list Floyd as 46th out of the 159 counties in terms of overall health outcomes, and 39th for the health factors that affect local residents.
Bartow County ranks 42nd overall, while neighboring Gordon is at 57, Chattooga is at 78 and Polk is at 98. In general, ratings are better in the metro Atlanta region and worse in the rural middle and South Georgia counties.
The annual report, a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, looks at more than 30 factors such as education, jobs, and access to quality health care.
The goal, researchers said, is to show how health is influenced by where we live, learn, work, and play — and to provide starting points for change.
“We can’t be a healthy, thriving nation if we continue to leave entire communities and populations behind,” said Dr. Richard Besser, RWJF president and CEO, in a statement coinciding with the report’s release.
A top strength in Floyd County is its ratio of one primary care physician for every 780 residents. Statewide, it averages 1,520 to 1; and the bestserved counties in the nation average 1,030 to 1.
Floyd also has a relatively low incidence, 12 percent, of driving deaths with alcohol involved. It’s 16 percent in Polk and Chattooga, 18 percent in Bartow, 33 percent in Gordon County and 23 percent statewide.
Among the social and economic factors giving Floyd a boost are a 90-percent high school graduation rate and a population where 54 percent of adults ages 25 to 44 have some post-secondary education.
The report looked at the percentage of ninth-graders that graduated within four years. Statewide, the average among counties was 80 percent. Gordon County had 92 percent for the period covered by the analysis; Chattooga had 86 percent; Polk had 81 percent and Bartow hit the 80-percent average.
Top-performing counties nationwide had an average of 72 percent of their adults with some college. The rates were 53 percent in Bartow, 45 percent in Polk, 44 percent in Gordon and 37 percent in Chattooga.
Smoking, obesity, lack of health insurance, unemployment and income inequality stood out as areas of concern in Floyd County.
The percentage of adults who smoke was one of the more important health factors in determining a county’s ranking. Floyd mirrored the statewide average of 18 percent, compared to 14 percent in the top healthiest counties nationwide.
Smokers make up 19 percent of the adult populations in Bartow and Polk and 21 percent in Chattooga and Gordon.
About a third of the adults in Floyd and neighboring counties rate as obese, with a BMI (measure of body fat) of 30 or more. It averaged 26 in the top-ranked counties nationally.
And, while the healthiest counties reported an average of 6 percent of their residents without health insurance, 16 percent of Georgians have no coverage.
The uninsured rate was 18 percent in Floyd, Polk and Chattooga; 19 percent in Gordon; and 16 percent in Bartow County.
In Floyd and surrounding counties, Bartow also had the lowest percentage of residents aged 16 and older seeking employment, at 5.1 percent. The unemployment rate was 6 percent for Floyd, compared to 5.4 percent statewide and 3.2 percent in the top healthiest counties nationally.
The report also compared the difference in household income between the wealthiest 20 percent and poorest 20 percent of residents in a county. Nationally, income inequality for most counties ranged from 3.7 and 5.4.
Top incomes in Floyd were 4.9 times that of the lowest 20 percent. The ratio was 4 in Bartow, 4.2 in Gordon, 4.6 in Polk and Chattooga and 5 statewide.
Julie Willems Van Dijk, director of the County Health Rankings & Roadmap project, said the data is a guide to addressing long-standing community challenges.
“This year’s rankings are a call to action to see how these persistent health gaps play out locally, take an honest look at their root causes, and work together to give everyone a fair shot at a healthier life,” she said in a release.