Study: Metro Atlanta among healthiest areas in state

By Craig Schneider

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Metro Atlanta is among the healthiest areas to live in the state, according to a report released Wednesday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The metro area -- in particular the counties of Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb and Gwinnett -- ranked among the top counties in the state for health outcomes such as long life, as well as health factors such as access to health facilities.

Gwinnett and Cobb ranked especially high in the category of long life, coming in at fourth and fifth, respectively, in a comparison of 157 of the state's 159 counties. DeKalb ranked 13th and Fulton was 22nd.

Metro Atlanta counties also ranked consistently high in the area of health behaviors, which measured smoking, diet and exercise, alcohol use and risky sex behavior. Cobb and Fulton came in at No. 2 and No. 4, respectively. Gwinnett was seventh and DeKalb was 16th.

"Urban areas tend to have better access to health care and quality of care," said Bridget Booske, a senior scientist at the University of Wisconsin, which worked with the foundation on the report. The foundation is a New Jersey-based philanthropy dedicated to improving people's health.

The Georgia county rankings can be found at www.countyhealthrankings.org/georgia/overall-rankings. The study had inadequate information to rank Echols and Taliaferro counties.

Booske, the lead author on the report, stressed that it can be difficult to make sweeping generalizations for areas that contain both urban and suburban counties.

Urban areas tend to have more major hospitals that can handle more health problems, but the economics and educational levels can vary there, she said.

Suburbs, meanwhile, tend to have higher incomes and educational levels, she said.

Metro Atlanta counties did not score well in every category of the report. The four counties ranked among the worst in the area that measured environmental quality, which includes air quality and traffic congestion.

"It's great that the counties are so healthy in general, but the environmental issues are something to look at," Booske said. "Those environmental issues can have long-term effects ... so in the future, those counties may not be so healthy."

The report compared counties in every state but did not perform state-to-state comparisons. Georgia often scores poorly in such national rankings.

The report used a combination of data from the U.S. census, the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care.