READ FULL STORY HEREPhiladelphia might be feeling ill over a new study that places it as the least healthy county in Pennsylvania. As the largest county and city in Pennsylvania with an estimated population of over 1.54-million, Philadelphia ranked 67th out of 67 counties in the Keystone State in terms of health.
The study which examines over 3,000 counties nationwide on factors such as crime, education, obesity and air pollution was conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University Of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute.
In an article published yesterday by Don Sapatkin from the Philadelphia Inquirer the health-factors being discussed combine 23-measures in four separate categories. Smoking and diet, access to insurance and diabetes screening, income and crime, air pollution and healthy eating along with other physical and socio-economic factors were taken into consideration. Sapatkin points out the relationships are similar from state to state. In New York for instance the Bronx borough ranked last whereas more affluent counties such as Nassau and Westchester were near the top. In New Jersey the wealthy northern counties are in better shape than poorer central and southern locations like Cumberland and Camden counties.
The latest round of bad press is another punch in the gut to Philadelphians but nothing they haven’t sustained before. Much was made out of Philly being dubbed most obese city in American at the beginning of the decade by Men’s Fitness magazine. It dropped to fourth on the list by 2003 behind Houston, Chicago and Detroit.
For Pennsylvania healthy and unhealthy counties are spread across the state almost at random. Places lacking overall health do seem to appear most frequently in larger more congested urban areas and rural counties where access is harder to come by. Better health is more likely sustained in wealthier suburban areas that often border large cities. This is certainly the case in the Philadelphia-area. Although bordering Delaware County ranks near the middle of the pack (36th), three other surrounding counties of Philly; Chester (1st), Montgomery (5th) and Bucks (7th) all place at or near the top of the list in Pennsylvania.
Aside from Philadelphia most of the lowest ranked counties in Pennsylvania can found in the northeastern and western parts of the state. Allegheny County, home to the city of Pittsburgh and the second largest in the state, ranks a modest 49th. Many of the surrounding areas to the north and south of Allegheny however place near the bottom of the list. Healthiest counties meanwhile are dispersed throughout the state. Other than the Philadelphia-region however the middle of Pennsylvania is tops in health. Centre County home to Penn State University ranks second and bordering Union and Snyder counties rank third and fourth respectively. The state of Delaware has just three counties but New Castle which is part of the greater region of Philadelphia is ranked healthiest.
While not overly impressive the news for Philadelphia is better according the results of a Gallup survey released earlier this week. In it Gallup ranks the 52-largest metropolitan areas in the country in terms of “well-being”. Six categories were taken into consideration; life evaluation, emotional health, work environment, physical health, healthy behavior and basic access. Individual states were also assessed through the process of over 350,000 interviews from the beginning to end of 2009.
The Philadelphia-region rank is 33rd out of 52 markets and the state of Pennsylvania comes in at 30th place out of 50. With an overall well-being index score of 65.4 the Keystone State ranks one-spot behind New Jersey (65.6) and eight places in front of Delaware (64.7). The national index of 65.9 for 2009 was unchanged from last year meaning both Philadelphia (65.8) and Pennsylvania (65.4) rank slightly below average according to the Gallup survey and study. The Keystone State did make a modest improvement of half a point year over year.
The five states with the highest well-being index were Hawaii, Utah, Minnesota, Minnesota and Iowa. The bottom of the list was rounded out by Nevada followed by Ohio, Arkansas, Kentucky and West Virginia in last.
Hawaii’s positive reputation is not limited to its status as merely a great tourist destination. The Aloha State ranks first in life evaluation, emotional heath and physical health. West Virginia brings up the bottom of the list in all three of those categories. Vermont is tops in having the healthiest behavior, Utah has the best work environment and Minnesota is number-one in basic access. Kentucky, Delaware and Mississippi are worst in each of those respective categories. Pennsylvania’s best category is basic access ranking fourteenth and its worst is a 40th placement in life evaluation.
The best metros on the Gallup list of well-being were San Jose, CA, Washington DC, Raleigh, NC, Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN and San Francisco/Oakland, CA. The five worst on the list of 52 are Louisville, KY, Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL, Jacksonville, FL, Providence, RI and Las Vegas, NV. At number-33 the Philadelphia-region ranked ahead of other notable markets such as New York, NY, Pittsburgh, PA, New Orleans, LA, Detroit, MI and Miami/Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Minneapolis/St. Paul ranked first in both emotional health and basic access with Providence and Las Vegas the worst in those two respective categories. San Jose was tops in the similar categories of physical health and healthy behavior with Buffalo, NY and Louisville at the bottom of those lists. Washington, DC meanwhile scored highest in life evaluation and Raleigh topped the list for best working environment. Last in those two categories were the Tampa-area and Cleveland, OH.
PHOTO CREDIT: ASSOCIATED PRESS / MATT ROURKE
The study which examines over 3,000 counties nationwide on factors such as crime, education, obesity and air pollution was conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University Of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute.
In an article published yesterday by Don Sapatkin from the Philadelphia Inquirer the health-factors being discussed combine 23-measures in four separate categories. Smoking and diet, access to insurance and diabetes screening, income and crime, air pollution and healthy eating along with other physical and socio-economic factors were taken into consideration. Sapatkin points out the relationships are similar from state to state. In New York for instance the Bronx borough ranked last whereas more affluent counties such as Nassau and Westchester were near the top. In New Jersey the wealthy northern counties are in better shape than poorer central and southern locations like Cumberland and Camden counties.
The latest round of bad press is another punch in the gut to Philadelphians but nothing they haven’t sustained before. Much was made out of Philly being dubbed most obese city in American at the beginning of the decade by Men’s Fitness magazine. It dropped to fourth on the list by 2003 behind Houston, Chicago and Detroit.
For Pennsylvania healthy and unhealthy counties are spread across the state almost at random. Places lacking overall health do seem to appear most frequently in larger more congested urban areas and rural counties where access is harder to come by. Better health is more likely sustained in wealthier suburban areas that often border large cities. This is certainly the case in the Philadelphia-area. Although bordering Delaware County ranks near the middle of the pack (36th), three other surrounding counties of Philly; Chester (1st), Montgomery (5th) and Bucks (7th) all place at or near the top of the list in Pennsylvania.
Aside from Philadelphia most of the lowest ranked counties in Pennsylvania can found in the northeastern and western parts of the state. Allegheny County, home to the city of Pittsburgh and the second largest in the state, ranks a modest 49th. Many of the surrounding areas to the north and south of Allegheny however place near the bottom of the list. Healthiest counties meanwhile are dispersed throughout the state. Other than the Philadelphia-region however the middle of Pennsylvania is tops in health. Centre County home to Penn State University ranks second and bordering Union and Snyder counties rank third and fourth respectively. The state of Delaware has just three counties but New Castle which is part of the greater region of Philadelphia is ranked healthiest.
While not overly impressive the news for Philadelphia is better according the results of a Gallup survey released earlier this week. In it Gallup ranks the 52-largest metropolitan areas in the country in terms of “well-being”. Six categories were taken into consideration; life evaluation, emotional health, work environment, physical health, healthy behavior and basic access. Individual states were also assessed through the process of over 350,000 interviews from the beginning to end of 2009.
The Philadelphia-region rank is 33rd out of 52 markets and the state of Pennsylvania comes in at 30th place out of 50. With an overall well-being index score of 65.4 the Keystone State ranks one-spot behind New Jersey (65.6) and eight places in front of Delaware (64.7). The national index of 65.9 for 2009 was unchanged from last year meaning both Philadelphia (65.8) and Pennsylvania (65.4) rank slightly below average according to the Gallup survey and study. The Keystone State did make a modest improvement of half a point year over year.
The five states with the highest well-being index were Hawaii, Utah, Minnesota, Minnesota and Iowa. The bottom of the list was rounded out by Nevada followed by Ohio, Arkansas, Kentucky and West Virginia in last.
Hawaii’s positive reputation is not limited to its status as merely a great tourist destination. The Aloha State ranks first in life evaluation, emotional heath and physical health. West Virginia brings up the bottom of the list in all three of those categories. Vermont is tops in having the healthiest behavior, Utah has the best work environment and Minnesota is number-one in basic access. Kentucky, Delaware and Mississippi are worst in each of those respective categories. Pennsylvania’s best category is basic access ranking fourteenth and its worst is a 40th placement in life evaluation.
The best metros on the Gallup list of well-being were San Jose, CA, Washington DC, Raleigh, NC, Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN and San Francisco/Oakland, CA. The five worst on the list of 52 are Louisville, KY, Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL, Jacksonville, FL, Providence, RI and Las Vegas, NV. At number-33 the Philadelphia-region ranked ahead of other notable markets such as New York, NY, Pittsburgh, PA, New Orleans, LA, Detroit, MI and Miami/Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Minneapolis/St. Paul ranked first in both emotional health and basic access with Providence and Las Vegas the worst in those two respective categories. San Jose was tops in the similar categories of physical health and healthy behavior with Buffalo, NY and Louisville at the bottom of those lists. Washington, DC meanwhile scored highest in life evaluation and Raleigh topped the list for best working environment. Last in those two categories were the Tampa-area and Cleveland, OH.
PHOTO CREDIT: ASSOCIATED PRESS / MATT ROURKE
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