County residents’ health better, but improvement needed

ZANESVILLE – Out of 88 counties, Muskingum County ranks 66th this year, health wise, according to a national program that measures various health indicators annually.

The County Health Rankings and Roadmaps program is a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. The information is available online and every county in the country is ranked.

Last year, Muskingum County ranked 74th in Ohio, but Jody Stones, community health planner at Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department, said to get a clear indication of where Muskingum County has improved and needs improvement, data from the past five years needs to be considered.

And this program is not the only place the health department goes to collect data to assess health issues in Muskingum County, Stones said. But it does paint a picture of local health issues.

“We’re not one of the best counties,” she said.

The percentage of adult smokers is at 23, which is higher than the state average, adult obesity is 32 percent, which is also higher than Ohio and physical inactivity is at 33 percent. Again, that’s higher than Ohio.

Children in poverty at 30 percent is higher than the state average at 23 percent. Unemployment is higher, too.

“We have a lot of single-parent households,” Stones said.

Adults smoking has decreased from 30 percent in 2010, however, and the number of premature death has decreased since last year. Premature deaths, Stones said, mostly include illnesses caught too late or left untreated, such as heart disease. The number one such illness in Muskingum County is cancer, she said.

And the county rankings usually change one or two health indicators every year, which can also vary the data, Stones said. But the data does offer an accurate look at Muskingum County.

“We need to do work, and we are doing work,” she said.

A Muskingum County Community Health Improvement Plan is a five-year plan started in 2012 that is designed to improve residents’ health by targeting social, economic, education and cultural influences on health. The plan is available online and includes collaborations and plans for programs to benefit children, adults and families.

ksnyder2@zanesvilletimesrecorder.com

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Twitter: @KL_Snyder