A new study suggests southwest Missouri’s Christian County is the state’s healthiest county….and Pemiscot County, in the bootheel, is the poorest in health.
The study has been done by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.
he report highlights differences between the two counties — 45 percent of children in Pemiscot County live in poverty, more than three times the percentage in Christian County. More than one fourth of the Pemiscot County adults say they are in poor or fair health, more than double the rate in Christian County. Pemiscot County has a teen birth rate more than double the rate in Christian County and the rate of sexually transmitted diseases in Pemiscot County is five times the rate in Christian County.
The top ten counties, as rated by the survey, are Christian, Platte, St. Charles, Johnson, Atchison, Ralls, Osage, Clay, Moniteau, and Boone. The ten least healthy counties (starting with last and working back): Pemiscot, Dunklin, Ripley, New Madrid, Reynolds, Butler, Washington, Iron, Wayne, and the City of St. Louis.
The study considers four categories of factors — health behavior, clinical care, social and economic factors, and physical environment.
Want to see how your county faired? Click on your county to see the specifics at http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/missouri.