Roy Whang from Camas walks his dog Louie March 21 at the Vancouver waterfront, where they try to walk every day. Whang brings a stroller on their walks for Louie to ride in after he gets tired so they don’t have to cut their walks short
The 2019 County Health Rating Report compared data from 2011 to 2019 on each Washington state county to determine which counties are healthiest. Out of 39 counties, the 2019 County Health Rating Report ranks Clark County as the 11th healthiest in Washington. The report is put together by the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, a joint program between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.
County Health Rankings & Roadmaps determines the ranks by looking at high school graduation rates, access to healthy foods, rates of smoking, obesity, and teen births. These rankings are used to gather evidence for local health improvement initiatives among government agencies, health care providers, community organizations, business leaders, policymakers and the public.
Clark County’s best ranking is in quality of life, coming in at 8th best in the state. According to the report, among other things, this is attributed to a low rate of underweight babies. Only 6 percent of babies are born underweight in the county, which is among the best rates in the whole U.S. Also in regards to quality of life, the report found that only 12 percent of the population in Clark County has poor or fair health, beating the state average of 14 percent.
Further findings
Fourteen percent of Clark County’s adult population smokes, matching the state average and ranking high amongst the most smoke-free counties in the U.S.
Adult obesity in Clark County was at 30 percent in 2013 but has now dropped to 28 percent in 2019.
Clark County’s exercise opportunities, at 92 percent, beats the state average of 87 percent.
At the time of the report, there were 418.7 cases of sexually transmitted infections for Clark County which is just under the state average of 435.9.
Clark County’s clinical care is ranked 19th with only seven percent of its population being uninsured. The report states that there were 3,813 preventable hospital stays in Clark County during 2016, higher than both the state average of 2,914 and the top U.S. performers average of 2,765.
Clark County’s worst ranking was in the physical environment, placing 22nd. The largest contributing factor is the 79 percent of residents who are driving alone to work; Clark County was just above the state average at 72 percent.
Cowlitz ranks low
Cowlitz County is ranked as the 31st healthiest county.
Its highest rank comes from the physical environment, with 79 percent of the residents driving alone to work.
Their lowest rankings come from health behaviors. The adult obesity rate is 31 percent and 17 percent of the adult population smokes.
{{tncms-inline content="<p class="p1"><strong>First Place<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></strong></p> <p class="p2">San Juan County (Nine percent uninsured, 12 percent of adults smoke, and 15 percent of its children live in poverty).<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="p1"><strong>Last Place<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></strong></p> <p class="p2">The lowest ranked county for health is Ferry County (11 percent uninsured, 18 percent of adults smoke and 27 percent of its children live in poverty).<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></p>" id="71674b0f-191d-4a9a-8066-5c0635d71cab" style-type="bio" title="Statewide glance" type="relcontent"}}
