Community Corner
County Health Ranks Among California's Best
According to a new report, Santa Clara County is the second healthiest county in California.
Santa Clara County is the second healthiest place to live in California.
The County Health Rankings & Roadmaps project 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 Clara County is the second healthiest county of the 56 ranked counties in California. See the rest of the top 10 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. Santa Clara County shines in its "mortality" subcategory where locals rank second in the whole state. Included in the "mortality" section is premature death, or death before age 75.
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The county's lowest-rated category is "physical environment," for which it is ranked 22nd in the state. The subcategories there include air pollution-particulate matter days, air pollution-ozone days, access to recreational facilities, limited access to healthy foods and fast food restaurants.
See the complete breakdown of Santa Clara County's health compared to 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.
Explanations for unclear categories can be found below the chart.
6.5%
6% 6.7% Adult Smoking 10% 14% 14% Adult Obesity 21% 25% 24% Physical Inactivity 17% 21% 18% Excessive Drinking 13% 8% 17% Motor Vehicle Crash Death Rate 7 12 12 Sexually Transmitted Infections 306 84 399 Teen Birth Rate 27 22 40 Uninsured 14% 11% 20% Primary Care Physicians 667:1 631:1 847:1 Preventable Hospital Stays 40 49 52 Diabetic Screening 83% 89% 79% Mammography Screening 66% 74% 63% High School Graduation 78% N/A 74% Some College 73% 68% 60% Unemployment 11.1% 5.4% 12.4% Children in Poverty 13% 13% 22% Inadequate Social Support 22% 14% 25% Children in Single-Parent Households 22% 20% 30% Violent Crime Rate 306 73 500 Air Pollution-Particulate Matter Days 7 0 16 Air Pollution-Ozone Days 12 0 51 Access to Recreational Facilities 11 16 9 Limited Access to Healthy Foods 1% 0% 5% Fast Food Restaurants 47% 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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