San Diego: #16 on California Healthy Counties ranking

Early this year, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin released their rankings of the health of residents in almost every county in the nation based upon 2010 data. The "County Health Rankings" report, which used 27 measures to gauge public health in all 50 states, ranked San Diego County as California's 16th healthiest county.

The information should be “a call for action for communities to work together to address the things that are influencing their health,” said Patrick Remington, an associate dean at the University of Wisconsin and a study director. “These rankings tell us that where we live matters to our health.”

According to experts, it is predictable that residents in California’s five healthiest counties — Marin, San Benito, Placer, Santa Clara and San Mateo — are also among the wealthiest and best educated. Residents in the five unhealthiest counties — Trinity, Del Norte, Siskiyou, Lake and Yuba — have incomes nearly half of the statewide median and live in isolated areas of Northern California.

In Southern California, Orange County ranked sixth, Los Angeles County ranked 26th, Riverside County 29th and Imperial County 37th.

“In general, San Diego did a little better than California overall in just about everything, but not by much,” said San Diego State University professor Dr. James Sallis, a health psychologist and director of the national Active Living Research program. “I think that’s good news, given the diversity of our population.”

Sallis called the study “a useful snapshot,” although it doesn’t reveal the dramatic differences in health levels depending on location, ethnicity and income within the county.

The full report can be viewed at the website: http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/

SUMMARY RESULTS FOR SAN DIEGO COUNTY:

Premature death: 14th in California

Years of potential life lost before age 75 per 100,000 people:

San Diego County: 5,677

California average: 6,128

National benchmark: 5,564

(Margin of error: +/-8)

Selected California counties:

1st: Marin, 4,004

4th: Orange, 4,692

16th: San Francisco, 5,793

21st: Los Angeles, 6,009

56th: Trinity, 12,338

About San Diego: This is an important overall measure of a population’s well-being because it highlights whether the county had a significant number of deaths that could have been prevented. We rank well both within the state and nationally. Our rate of premature death falls close to the 90th percentile among all states. Still, county health officials say we have a long way to go before we are a truly healthy community.

The county’s scores are compared with a national benchmark, which equals the 90th percentile in rankings across the country. That’s the same as getting an A, since only 10 percent of counties did better. The study did not rank all 58 California counties in all categories.

Low birthweight: 37th

Percent of newborns weighing under 5 pounds, 8 ounces

San Diego County: 6.4%

California average: 6.7%

National benchmark: 6.0%

(Margin of error: +/-.1)

Selected California counties:

1st: Colusa, 4.2%;

27th: Orange, 6.2%;

52nd: Los Angeles and San Francisco, 7.1%;

56th: Mono, 8.8%

About San Diego: Prenatal care is important to help avoid low birthweight, a risk factor for lung, heart, vision and hearing problems, as well as later learning difficulties. Studies show that problems can persist in adulthood with higher risk of high blood pressure and diabetes. San Diego has a network of community clinics offering comprehensive prenatal care. Researchers also say a factor in our rate being lower than the state average could be that nearly a third of our population is Latino. Studies show that Latinos have the lowest rate of underweight newborns among ethnic groups.

Adult smoking: 19th

Percent that currently smokes every day or “most days”

San Diego County: 14%

California average: 15%

National benchmark: 15%

(Margin of error: +/-1)

Selected California counties

1st: San Benito, 5%;

14th: San Francisco and Orange, 13%;

23rd: Los Angeles, 15%;

45th: Tuolumne, 24%

About San Diego: Our smoking rate is on par with the state, which has the second-lowest smoking rate in the country. Since 1988, California has had comprehensive anti-smoking education and cessation programs. The state was the first to pass laws banning smoking in public buildings, stores and restaurants.

Adult obesity: 16th

Percent with a body mass index at or above 30

San Diego County: 22%

California average: 23%

National benchmark: 25%

(Margin of error: +/-2)

Selected California counties

1st: Marin and San Francisco, 16%

4th: Orange, 19%

12th: Los Angeles, 21%

57th: Tulare and Yuba, 32%

About San Diego: A Healthy Works county program funded by a $16 million federal grant includes efforts improve access to healthy food and encourage exercise. Obesity is a risk factor for serious health problems.

Excessive drinking: 13th

Percent of adults reporting more than 4 (women) or 5 (men) alcoholic beverages on a single occasion in the past 30 days, or average more than 1 (women) or 2 (men) drinks a day

San Diego County 17%

California average: 17%

National benchmark: 8%

(Range of error: 11-27)

Selected California counties

1st: Sutter, 11%

8th: Los Angeles, 16%

13th: Orange, 17%

35th: San Francisco, 21%

43rd: Tuolumne, 27%

About San Diego: We aren’t the teetotalers or the biggest chuggers in California, but excessive drinking can have consequences. It’s a risk factor for heart and liver diseases, cancer, accidents, family violence, fetal alcohol syndrome.

Sexually transmitted infection: 49th

New cases of chlamydia reported per 100,000 population

San Diego County: 479

California average:407

National benchmark: 83

Selected California counties

1st: Calaveras, 77

34th: Orange, 285

48th: Los Angeles, 474

53rd: San Francisco, 510

57th: Kern, 727

About San Diego: Sexually transmitted diseases are rising every year in the county, although exactly why is unclear. In 2010, there were 2,047 cases of gonorrhea and 15,426 cases of chlamydia. County officials say the rise in the syphilis rate is the most dramatic and considered an epidemic since it’s grown from 28 cases in 2000 to 435 cases last year. Health officials responded by launching a “We All Test” campaign 11 months ago aimed at gay men because they account for 84 percent of cases.

Primary care providers: 24th

Population per one provider

San Diego County: 838:1

California average: 847:1

National benchmark: 631:1

Selected California counties

1st: San Francisco, 401:1

13th: Orange, 725:1

27th: Los Angeles, 884:1

56th: Glenn, 5,625:1

About San Diego: Two-thirds of physicians here are specialists, which is common in a large city with a medical school. But San Diego doctors also tend to get paid less because Medicare classifies the county as rural and pays them 7 percent less. Primary care doctors get paid less, anyway, so the incentive is to specialize or move. That makes it harder for people see a doctor in a timely way for primary and preventive medical care.

Air pollution — ozone days: 43rd

Annual number of days that air quality was unhealthy for sensitive populations due to ozone levels

San Diego County: 38

California average: 51

National benchmark: 0

Selected California counties:

1st: San Francisco and 16 other counties, 0

29th: Orange, 14

52nd: Los Angeles, 79

56th: San Bernardino, 116

About San Diego: Even though our population keeps growing and driving more, we have the lowest ozone pollution levels since monitoring began 50 years ago. That’s thanks to tough laws requiring more-efficient cars with better emission controls, cleaner fuel and other regulations. Our geography, weather and lack of heavy industry also help. We still don’t meet federal standards, though.

Access to healthy foods: 20th

Percent of ZIP codes with a grocery store or produce stand

San Diego County: 80%

California average: 79%

National benchmark: 92%

Selected California counties

1st: Colusa and Imperial, 100%

8th: Orange and Los Angeles, 90%

12th: San Francisco, 89%

56th: Trinity, 22%

About San Diego: Local farmers grow crops year-round, but accessing the healthy produce isn’t always easy, especially for low-income people. The county is helping, with Calfresh (food stamp) cards now accepted at three of its 51 certified farmers markets, with more in the works.