A "chew” ring in the back pocket of a pair of blue jeans may reveal status in some schools in McCurtain County. But the outline of running shoes tucked inside a backpack reveals status in parts of Major County.
Experts loosely linked those differences to a new county health ranking that puts Major County first in the state and McCurtain County last.
The "health factors” category includes adult smoking, obesity, binge drinking, motor vehicle death rate, teen births, education employment, income and environmental quality. The rankings just released by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute also rated counties according to "health outcomes.”
"I’m a country girl and I’ve always said country living is a cleaner life,” said Debbie Karber, a registered nurse and president of Life Fitness Club. Her running club attempted to get a YMCA to open in Fairview in northwest Oklahoma’s Major County 15 years ago. But when the town was deemed too small, running club members instead started the nonprofit fitness club.
"I think we’re a community that’s becoming aware of the need for health. We are definitely starting to make it more of a priority,” she said.
Canadian and Cleveland counties in the Oklahoma City metro area are ranked second and third, respectively. Both counties enjoy health benefits arising from their universities — Redlands Community College in Canadian County and University of Oklahoma in Cleveland County — and generally higher population and income levels.
Shari Kinney, administrative director for the Cleveland County Health Department, indicated it’s fairly easy and important to people to stay healthy in that county.
Kinney, who bicycles, runs or works out daily, said residents have a good hospital, health services for low income people, doctors who promote community health, and easy access to Oklahoma City health services.
The health department also recognizes businesses that provide health insurance, give employees the opportunity to exercise and select healthful foods and beverages from vending machines. The health department also has been working with a company in providing healthy foods in Norman schools.
"There’s a lot of community effort to be healthy and get adequate exercise,” she said.
Tobacco targeted
Many of the low-ranking counties, based on health factors, are in the southeast. Pushmataha, Choctaw and McCurtain counties are ranked 75, 76 and 77, respectively.
The administrative director for those counties’ health departments, Rhonda Dennis, said with tobacco settlement money, southeast Oklahoma health departments are working with average folks to "take our poor health statistics by the throat and say, ‘What are we going to do about it?’”
Dennis said poorer communities tend to be less healthy. McCurtain, Pushmataha and Choctaw counties have significantly lower median household incomes than the state’s overall $41,551, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. McCurtain’s is $29,249, Pushmataha’s is $28,348 and Choctaw’s is $28,392.
She said, though, that the counties have already reached a turning point, at least in cutting smoking. The three counties are spending $221,000 yearly in tobacco settlement money to fight smoking. Terry Cline, Oklahoma’s health commissioner, applauded the effort, especially McCurtain County’s drop in the rate of adult smoking from 25.7 percent to 19.7 percent in 2009.
Dennis said the communities are fighting tobacco with unusual projects, such as buying up all the tobacco vendor spots at a deer festival or presenting the city council with students holding 30-gallon trash bags of cigarette butts picked up from a children’s park, or fighting chewing tobacco with Project Spit.
"This is cowboy country ... and cowboys have a much higher incidence of chewing tobacco (use). We’re really attacking that,” she said.
"Especially with kids. You go into high schools and you’ll see that ring in the back pocket of the Wranglers and they think it’s so cool. We’re trying to show that’s not cool.”
Chopping obesity is the next big frontier, she said. And she said she’s sure the counties are poised to improve their health and move up in the rankings next time.
"It doesn’t take really any money,” Dennis said. "Just staff with a lot of ingenuity to say this might make a difference in our school; this might make a difference in our community.”
source: newsok
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