New County Health Rankings Find Teton County Leading Eastern Idaho

By BRENNEN KAUFFMAN bkauffman@postregister.com

Teton County leads eastern Idaho in the updated County Health Rankings that were released Tuesday morning.

The annual report, compiled by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, ranked Teton as Idaho’s fourth-healthiest county based on a number of health-related factors compiled from national surveys and databases. Jefferson and Madison counties also made it into the state’s top 10.

“We are proud of that. If you look across the Upper Valley health district, they’re all considerably higher-rated,” Eastern Idaho Public Health spokeswoman Mimi Taylor said. She said that rural counties don’t often rank that highly unless their residents are working outside and making healthy lifestyle choices.

A major factor in the health outcome rankings is “premature death” — the total years of life lost by residents who died before the age of 75. Other factors relied on for that description are the birth weight of babies and the frequency of poor physical and mental health among the residents.

Janna Kowalski organizes the community guidance for the County Health Rankings in the Rocky Mountain region and said that factors such as housing prices and economic success can have bigger impacts on people’s health than more obvious medical issues.

“The purpose of the rankings is to serve as a call to action. Every county has assets to celebrate and challenges to address,” Kowalski said.

Teton County’s high ranking in the state was largely due to having the fewest premature deaths in the state and a high overall life expectancy. The county also ranked well in other metrics, landing in the lowest 10 percent nationally when it came to obesity rates, drunk driving deaths and air pollution.

Bonneville County’s ranking improved from 23 in 2018 to 19 this year and landed near the top of the state rankings for clinical care and overall health factors. The high premature death rate and number of poor mental health days kept the county from rising higher in the state rankings. Additionally, many of the specific health behaviors tracked by the study were slightly above the state average, such as the percentage of adult obesity and number of teen births.

To the south, Bannock County was ranked 36th in the state, unchanged from a year ago. Bingham County landed in the bottom five statewide.

In addition to breaking down results by county, the study also pointed out some factors involving race that led to wildly different health outcomes. Across Idaho, Native Americans had nearly twice the number of years lost due to premature deaths as white residents and more years lost than any county in Idaho.

“In neighborhoods where we see folks of color living, there are often less opportunities for good health. Where we live influences how long and how well we live,” Kowalski said.

The overall report for Idaho and other states emphasized the impact that location and home cost had on other aspects of health, such as access to healthy food and high-quality education.

“When so much of a paycheck goes toward the rent or mortgage, it makes it hard to afford to go to the doctor,” the report said.

When it came to county trends, Kowalski pointed to Madison County as one that stood out for having both major concerns and great achievements. Madison was the top-rated county in the state when it came to social factors that influence health and well-being, landing in the top 10 percent of all counties nationwide for its low rates of unemployment, violent crime and single-parent households.

Teton County and Jefferson County ranked second and third in the state for the same social and economic standards.

In addition to providing rankings for dozens of metrics for each county, the University of Wisconsin program also provides resources to help communities tackle their health-related issues through the What Works for Health program. Potential solutions for housing problems like the one in Madison County include regulating rent and creating trusts that can collectively manage home prices.

Contact Brennen with news tips at 208-542-6711.

 

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