PHOENIX — Access to health care, healthy behavior, the environment and public safety are some reasons why Arizona is not considered a healthy state, according to a new study published by U.S. News.
In a ranking of the 500 healthiest communities, not one Arizona county made the list.
U.S. News compiled data from government agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to measure population health of nearly 3,000 American counties.
Maricopa County, Arizona's largest county, has an overall score of 52. It has a relatively high population health score but a very poor equity score, two of the categories the study weighted the most.
Population health was decided by looking at the population with no health insurance, the number of adults with no leisure-time physical activity, the number of adults in poor health and even the teen birth rate.
Maricopa County's population share of the uninsured is three times higher than Colorado's Douglas County, the healthiest county according to the ranking.
Both Maricopa and Douglas counties are categorized as urban communities with high economic performance but Maricopa County is home to 3.5 million more people than Douglas County, which encompasses suburbs south of Denver.
According to the data, almost 20 percent of adults in Maricopa County do no physical activity in their leisure time and 15 percent of adults are in poor to fair health. These percentages are two times higher than those in Douglas County. Certainly, Maricopa County's large population of aging adults may influence these statistics.
The teen birth rate in Maricopa County is 25 per every 1,000 girls, which is just over the national average of 22 per every 1,000 girls. In Douglas County, the rate is about 5 per every 1,000 girls.
Douglas County scored an equity score of 64 while Maricopa County's was 24. The U.S. News study measures equity by looking at the neighborhood and racial disparities in education, health, income. Most notably, the data showed Maricopa County has a racial disparity in exposure to toxic air.
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The economy, the environment and public safety were also analyzed in the study. While Maricopa performs well in the economy category, its environment and public safety scores were less than impressive. Unsurprisingly, Arizona's extreme heat has a factor in Maricopa County residents' health and both property crime and violent crime rates are significantly higher in Maricopa County than the national average.
There is a lot more to the study. To see how healthy Maricopa County is, click here. And to see the full ranking from #1 Douglas County to #500 Sauk County, Wisconsin, click here.