Health ranking: Winnebago 77th among Ill. counties

MADISON, Wis. — Winnebago County ranked 77th of Illinois’ 102 counties in overall health, according to a report released today by the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The report measured overall health, county-by-county, in all 50 states by using a standard formula in four categories — health behavior, clinical care, social and economic factors, and physical environment. Health factors that were studied included rates of adult smoking, adult obesity, binge drinking, and teenage pregnancy; the number of uninsured adults, availability of primary care-providers, and preventable hospital stays; rates of high school graduation, number of children in poverty, rates of violent crime, access to healthy foods, air pollution levels, and liquor store density.

Among the factors in Winnebago County’s ranking were findings that 25 percent of the county’s adult population smokes, 26 percent of the adult population is obese,15 percent of the population is without health insurance, and that 21 percent of children live in poverty.

“The report provides a snapshot, not a high resolution review, of how healthy our residents are by comparing their overall health and the factors that influence their health with other counties in Illinois,” said Winnebago County Public Health Administrator Mike Bacon.

“It will further remind us that multiple factors contribute to a healthy community. Some factors we each can influence on our own, but many factors are outside our individual control. By improving conditions in our homes, schools, workplaces and community we can create greater opportunities for our residents to be healthy.”

Researchers used five measures to assess the level of overall health or “health outcomes” for Illinois by county: the rate of people dying before age 75, the percent of people who report being in fair or poor health, the numbers of days people report being in poor physical and poor mental health, and the rate of low-birthweight infants.

Bacon said the report comes at a time when many sectors in Winnebago and Boone counties are joining forces to undertake a comprehensive community health study through the Rockford Health Council. “This process will provide the foundation for developing a plan of action on established priorities and serve as a call to action for all sectors of the community that health is everyone’s business,” he said.

In the Rock River Valley, Jo Daviess and Carroll counties ranked among the 10 healthiest counties in the state at numbers 4 and 9. Ogle County ranked as next healthiest in the area at 24th, followed by Boone at 29, Stephenson at 33, Lee at 41 and Whiteside at 47.

In general, the healthiest of Illinois counties are clustered in the northern and central regions and the least healthy counties are sprinkled in the southern, central and northern regions of the state. Pope County was not ranked.

“This report shows us that there are big differences in overall health across Illinois’s counties, due to many factors, ranging from individual behavior to quality of health care, to education and jobs, to access to healthy foods, and to quality of the air,” said Dr. Patrick Remington, associate dean for public health at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

“For the first time, every person can compare the overall health of their county to the health of other counties in Illinois, and also see where the state needs to improve.”

The online report, available at countyhealthrankings.org, includes a snapshot of each county in Illinois with a color-coded map comparing each county’s overall health ranking. The national, state and Winnebago County rankings are also available at wchd.org.