Report: Ottawa is Michigan's healthiest county

Ottawa County is the healthiest county in Michigan, according to a report released Wednesday by the University of Wisconsin Popular Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. According to the rankings, Ottawa County residents are more than two times less likely to die a premature death than those in Clare County, the least healthiest county in the state. Some of the highlights from the report indicate that 9 percent of Ottawa County residents report being in poor or fair health, 17 percent smoke and 9 percent of the county's children live in poverty.

Alex Doty

Ottawa County

Mar 30, 2011

“As the local health authority, the Ottawa County Health Department is pleased to be at the top of the County Health Rankings," Ottawa County Health Officer Lisa Stefanovsky said. "At the same time, the Health Department is just one piece of the puzzle contributing to good health."

Researchers used five measures to assess the level of overall health: the rate of people dying before age 75, the percent of people who report being in fair or poor health, the numbers of days people report being in poor physical and poor mental health, and the rate of low-birthweight infants. Factors also impacting the rankings are those that affect people’s health within four categories: health behavior, clinical care, social and economic factors, and physical environment.

Read more of this story in today's print edition of the Grand Haven Tribune.