MONROE - A nationwide study has Green County ranked 14th out of Wisconsin's 72 counties in health outcomes.
The study was released in April by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute in partnership with the national study put together by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Green County saw a significant uptick from previous rankings of 16 in 2013 and 20 in 2012. Lafayette County had an overall rating of 31 out of the 72 counties in Wisconsin.
One of the factors attributing to the low ranking for Lafayette County is the high number of alcohol-related vehicle deaths. According to the study, 54 percent of fatal vehicle crashes in the county were attributed to alcohol. The data gathered for this figure range from 2008 to 2012 and is significantly higher than the Green County and statewide percentages of 40 and 39 percent, respectively.
Karen Timberlake, director of the UW Population Health Institute in Madison, said that because this is a nationwide study, less densely populated counties have less information to provide, so more years are combined in the study. Most of the data come from 2010 to 2011 but range as far back as 2005. Timberlake said the data collected from small communities are broad and need to be qualified with local sources to pinpoint health problem areas.
"We always encourage people to look at the overall rank as a starting point, to see where progress has been made and places for improvement," she said.
The study also accounted for health factors, such as smoking, obesity and excessive drinking. Lafayette County ranked 25th and Green County ranked 11th in health factors statewide. Green County saw worse numbers in adulthood obesity in 2010 at 28 percent, compared to about 25 percent in 2009. These numbers represent an estimate of the Body Mass Index numbers gathered by The National Diabetes Surveillance System. Lafayette County came in at 30 percent in 2010, and adult obesity has been steadily rising in the county since 2004. Green County stayed about the same for physical inactivity at 20 percent, which shows the percent of adults who reported no leisure-time physical activity. Lafayette County came in at 19 percent of adults reporting no physical activity. This is significantly down from the 26 percent reported in 2007. The study attributes the lack of physical activity to causing 11 percent of premature deaths in the U.S.
Many data-gathering entities combine to gather the results. The National Center for Health Statistics, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and Center for Disease Control, as well as local agencies for each individual county are utilized to gather data.
"We try to go to data sources as close to the ground as possible but are still available in all 50 states," Timberlake said.
The study was released in April by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute in partnership with the national study put together by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Green County saw a significant uptick from previous rankings of 16 in 2013 and 20 in 2012. Lafayette County had an overall rating of 31 out of the 72 counties in Wisconsin.
One of the factors attributing to the low ranking for Lafayette County is the high number of alcohol-related vehicle deaths. According to the study, 54 percent of fatal vehicle crashes in the county were attributed to alcohol. The data gathered for this figure range from 2008 to 2012 and is significantly higher than the Green County and statewide percentages of 40 and 39 percent, respectively.
Karen Timberlake, director of the UW Population Health Institute in Madison, said that because this is a nationwide study, less densely populated counties have less information to provide, so more years are combined in the study. Most of the data come from 2010 to 2011 but range as far back as 2005. Timberlake said the data collected from small communities are broad and need to be qualified with local sources to pinpoint health problem areas.
"We always encourage people to look at the overall rank as a starting point, to see where progress has been made and places for improvement," she said.
The study also accounted for health factors, such as smoking, obesity and excessive drinking. Lafayette County ranked 25th and Green County ranked 11th in health factors statewide. Green County saw worse numbers in adulthood obesity in 2010 at 28 percent, compared to about 25 percent in 2009. These numbers represent an estimate of the Body Mass Index numbers gathered by The National Diabetes Surveillance System. Lafayette County came in at 30 percent in 2010, and adult obesity has been steadily rising in the county since 2004. Green County stayed about the same for physical inactivity at 20 percent, which shows the percent of adults who reported no leisure-time physical activity. Lafayette County came in at 19 percent of adults reporting no physical activity. This is significantly down from the 26 percent reported in 2007. The study attributes the lack of physical activity to causing 11 percent of premature deaths in the U.S.
Many data-gathering entities combine to gather the results. The National Center for Health Statistics, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and Center for Disease Control, as well as local agencies for each individual county are utilized to gather data.
"We try to go to data sources as close to the ground as possible but are still available in all 50 states," Timberlake said.