CDC reports healthiest, unhealthiest cities
By:
NWHF Staff
| Posted on: November 18th, 2008
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On November 18, the Associated Press published a story announcing that the Centers of Disease Control as named Burlington, Vermont the “healthiest city in America.” Hundreds of newspapers and television stations picked up and ran with the story.
Huntington, West Virginia was named the unhealthiest metro area in the nation.
The story — one of Yahoo’s most read for the day — is based on a CDC report using 2006 data.
Burlington and Huntington achieved their positions based on the percentage of residents who self-reported having “fair to poor health.”
The CDC looked at several indicators, even though the “healthiest/least healthy” designations were based on the single self-reported indicator.
Other health indicators the study looked at included the following:
Health-care coverage
Mammography rates
Cigarette smoking
Binge drinking
Leisure time physical activity / inactivity
Obesity
Coronary heart disease
Health care coverage ranged from a low of 61% of people covered in El Paso, Texas to 94% covered in Long Island, New York
Prevalence among women over 40 who had a mammogram during the preceding two years ranged from a low of 60% in Utah County, Utah to 89% in Durham County, North Carolina.
The estimated prevalence of smoking at least sometimes among adults ranged from 6% in Utah County, Utah to 31% in Natrona County, Wyoming
Binge drinking was defined as having five or more drinks on at least one occasion during the preceding month. Fargo, North Dakota showed a rate of 25% in this indicator – highest in the nation.
Leisure-time physical inactivity was defined as no exercise aside from work during the preceding month. El Paso, Texas was found to be the most sedentary metropolitan area in the nation, showing a rate of 31% of the population “inactive.” Minneapolis-St. Paul had the highest rate of activity with only 13% of adults designated as “inactive.”
The highest rate of obesity belonged to Huntington, West Virginia (46% of its population obese), with a low of 15% in Santa Fe, New Mexico
The highest rate of diabetes belonged to Gaston County, North Carolina with a rate of 13%. Summit County, Utah has the lowest diabetes rate at only 2%.
The lowest rate of Coronary Heart Disease (6.1% of adults) was found in Billings, Montana, with Huntington West Virginia showing a top rate of 22% of adults affected by the disease.
As the Wall Street Journal reported on its health blog. “the folks in Huntington were none too pleased with their designation. For one, they complained the stats represent more than just Huntington proper, and they say people in the area have improved their health in recent years. …Huntington’s mayor, who himself is 5 foot 9, and 233 pounds, told the AP that obesity isn’t a big local issue, despite the high numbers.”
“It doesn’t come up,” Mayor David Felinton said. “We’ve got a lot of economic challenges here in Huntington. That’s usually the focus.”
Is the CDC measuring health the right way?
Are there other indicators we might want to look at to measure the health of our communities in Oregon? What might they be?
Do you think there may be a connection between the “economic challenges” in Huntington and their astronomical rates of poor health, cardiovascular disease, and obesity?
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Thanks for your thoughtful and informed post, Vanessa.
Supporting your points is an ecological study of obesity and income inequality published in the British Medical Journal (Pickett, Kelly, et. al, 2005), entitled “Wider income gaps, wider waistbands”
In this study, which adjusted for gross national per capita income, income inequality was positively correlated with the percentage of obese men, diabetes mortality rates, and average calories consumed per capita.
The authors concluded that obesity, diabetes mortality, and calorie consumption were associated with income inequality in developed countries, and state that increased nutritional problems may be a consequence of the psychosocial impact of living in a more hierarchical society.
The authors add that “income inequality has been associated with numerous negative health and psychosocial outcomes, such as lower life expectancy, higher homicide rates, and lower self rated health. The psychosocial stress of life near the bottom of a steeply hierarchical society is a suggested explanation for these associations.”
Chris Palmedo, Editor
communityhealthpriorities.org