How we stack up
The healthiest county: Gove County — along Interstate 70 in northwest Kansas — is No. 1.
The unhealthiest: Wyandotte County, home to Kansas City, Kan., is No. 105.
Our neighbors: Johnson, No. 3; Jefferson, No. 48; Leavenworth, No. 50; and Shawnee, No. 78.
Douglas County ranks 27th healthiest among Kansas counties
Douglas County stacked up well against its Kansas counterparts when it came to health rankings. Enlarge video
In an inaugural report, the Kansas Health Institute has determined that Douglas County is the 27th healthiest among the 105 counties in Kansas.
“Not too shabby, but there’s 26 better places to be,” said Dan Partridge, director of the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department. “We need to pay attention to our behaviors that we partake in and that what we do shapes our health and that we can do better.”
The report also centers on what will determine the state’s future health: behavior, physical environment, economic factors and access to health care.
Douglas County residents do a good job at using seat belts.
Homes don’t have many instances of lead paint and a high number of residents have high school diplomas. Those are all pluses in the health institute’s report.
“We’re physically active,” Partridge said. “We’re pretty good nutritionwise. We do some good things with choices and then we make bad choices.”
Those bad choices include binge drinking. The county also has a high respiratory hazard index, and a high number of residents annually reporting sexually transmitted diseases.
“The message I take from it is that this tells us who our partners need to be in health,” Partridge said. “We need to be working with our younger folks. That’s where we need to be talking because that’s where our best progress can be made in shaping behaviors.”
You can find the report online at ldchealth.org.
Comments
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bluerayborn (anonymous) says…
I thought I was having trouble breathing in Lawrence...
MaryKatesPillStash (anonymous) says…
I'd be interested in seeing the median age of these counties as well.
snap_pop_no_crackle (anonymous) says…
I'm guessing the habits of a single resident dragged Wyandotte county's rating down.
none2 (anonymous) says…
If "developturdism" was a culprit in bad health, then why is Johnson County #3?
Sometimes you simply have to admit that a lifestyle of drug use is unhealthy no matter how wonderful Lawrence residents want to claim it is.
jonas_opines (anonymous) says…
"As for weaknesses, the county has a high respiratory hazard index, high numbers for binge drinking and a high number of annually reported sexually transmitted diseases."
Color me shocked. One might look at those figures and think that we have, say, 20,000 college-aged students who smoke a lot, drink a lot, and have a lot of sex.
That would certainly make us unique.
Blame some random political group! It's all about politics!
KansasVoter (anonymous) says…
Marion - If you don't like it here, why don't you move? I'm sure that you'd like Shawnee county much better than Douglas.
grammaddy (anonymous) says…
Nobody should have to live in Shawnee County!
Machiavelli_mania (anonymous) says…
Yep.
Love Gove County!!
Sweet little hospital. Great public library.
Great little health food coop.
Castle Rock treks. I love that place!
Nice little county.
Machiavelli_mania (anonymous) says…
I think we need to stop fluoridating water and seek more information on the merits of fluoridation. Fluoride is a known toxin. What makes them think that small amounts of the toxin along the lifespan is OK? Prove to me that it is harmless. I have yet to see any recent quality research that backs up the claims of flouride and what it does to the digestive tract.
If fluoride effects the hardest substance our body makes, then what does it do with daily internal and external washes on soft tissue over a lifespan?
You can to stop cancer? Stop Fluoride.
I am not sure they fluoridate in Gove Country. I will have to check.
appleaday (anonymous) says…
Maybe we should send the Johnson County students back to Johnson County.
merrill (anonymous) says…
According to the radio report education was the number one factor in achieving good health statistics. USD 497 and KU should put Douglas County over the top....what happened?
Access to health care could also be a huge problem.
Lack of affordable health care could also be a huge problem.
AjaxIII (anonymous) says…
I've got to call BS on this one. It is not even remotely a scientific study and the actual paper doesn't claim to be. The model it is based on in Wisconsin claims to be a best guess. It may be close to accurate, but the author even says don't put too much stock into the county rankings, "except for South East Kansas"
Boeing (anonymous) says…
"USD 497 and KU should put Douglas County over the top….what happened?"
A lot of people move out of DG as soon as they get their degree. And there are a heck of a lot of uneducated people in DG despite it being a college county. I think that is a big reason JO is so high - that is where a lot of people go after graduating from KU.
But no shock at WY being dead last!
Jaminrawk (anonymous) says…
STDs and drinking? That is what makes Lawrence fun! :)
KansasPerson (anonymous) says…
I thought Marion lived in Lawrence! Marion, did you used to live here, and then moved away? I am sure I met you one time, and also, didn't you have a business in town? (Not that having a Lawrence biz precludes you from living elsewhere, I know)
WHY (anonymous) says…
How does wearing a seat belt make you healthy. If you weigh 400 pounds and put on your seat belt I bet five dollars I live longer than you.
jehovah_bob (anonymous) says…
They must be considering the propensity for Topekans to infiltrate Lawrence on a regular basis.
Gove is #1? Of course it's #1 there's like two maybe three people who live there. Ten tops. The likelyhood that they all wear their seatbelts and have safe sex is statistically high.
DGL (anonymous) says…
"How does wearing a seat belt make you healthy. If you weigh 400 pounds and put on your seat belt I bet five dollars I live longer than you."
The claim that seat belt usage positively influences health trends is based on statistical methods and analysis.
"Gove is #1? Of course it's #1 there's like two maybe three people who live there. Ten tops. The likelyhood that they all wear their seatbelts and have safe sex is statistically high."
Gove County population is 2,721, which according to my mathematics is slightly higher than 10.
autie (anonymous) says…
Holy Moly! I looked at the data sets at the KHI website. Southeast Kansas abounds with ignorance and unhealthy lifestyles. My county came in at 104. I suppose that is better than 105. Now I can't help but drive down the road looking at people, thinking, is it you? But when I think of the lead and zinc mines, the strip pits, the meth makers, the hazardous waste burning site...no dang wonder.
jehovah_bob (anonymous) says…
You can't believe everything you read on Wikipedia, it's 10 at most.
kthxbi (anonymous) says…
9 as of five minutes ago.
jehovah_bob (anonymous) says…
They better hope swine flu doesn't come to town or they're going to have to take another survey.