Almost one of every five Petersburg residents report fair or poor health, 25 percent of adults smoke, 36 percent are obese and 10 percent are unemployed.
Compare that with Arlington County in Northern Virginia, ranked the healthiest locality in the state where only 8 percent of people report fair or poor health, 10 percent of adults smoke, 18 percent are obese, and unemployment is at 3.6 percent.
The numbers are from the 2015 County Health Rankings report released Wednesday. The report, which ranks localities in all 50 states, didn’t have any surprises for officials in Petersburg, a city perennially at or near the bottom of the list but trying to get better.
“People see the rankings and they think that nothing is being done, but there are organizations out there actually putting strategies in place and addressing the health needs of the community,” said Valerie L. Liggins, program officer for The Cameron Foundation, which hosted a healthy communities summit in Petersburg in September. The foundation was formed from proceeds from the sale of Southside Regional Medical Center.
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“The socioeconomic factors are really a big part of addressing health,” Liggins said. “When you look at those communities that tend to have health challenges, you are looking at poverty as an indicator.”
Forty-seven percent of Petersburg children live in poverty, compared to 11 percent in Arlington.
In the report, each city and county is ranked on two separate lists. One lists looks at health outcomes, based on measures such as average lifespan and how people rate their mental and physical health.
The other list ranks based on more than 30 health factors, including poverty, access to exercise opportunities, air pollution, injury deaths, tobacco and alcohol use, availability of primary care physicians and education level.
Richmond-area localities moved around on the list.
Goochland County ranked 15th statewide on health outcomes, highest in the Richmond region, up from 25th place in 2014. The county slid a bit on the health factors measure, ranked 11th in 2015, compared to 10th in 2014.
Hanover County ranked 7th statewide on health factors, same as 2014 and the highest ranking statewide for a Richmond-area locality.
Chesterfield County ranked 16th and 25th on this year’s health factors and health outcomes lists, respectively, compared to 14th and 16th in 2014.
A total of 133 cities and counties in Virginia were ranked.
The report this year adds income inequality to the health factors ranking. The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey data is the source of the income information. In Virginia income inequality — the gap between the rich or affluent and the poor — is greatest in Emporia and least in King and Queen County.
Nationally the report found that premature deaths — people who die before age 75 — are declining in 60 percent of counties. Other findings show violent crime rates are highest in the South and that unemployment rates are 1.5 times higher in the least healthy counties than in the healthiest counties in states.
The County Health Rankings report is produced by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. The foundation is making resources available to lower-performing localities through a Roadmaps to Health program. The Crater Health District, which includes Petersburg, is getting technical assistance and coaching as it works on improving community health.