Survey says: Winneshiek County is a very, very healthy county!

Maybe Winneshiek County is already a "Blue Zone."

A just-released County Health Rankings produced by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute ranks Winneshiek County as the third healthiest county overall out of Iowa's 99 counties and in the top ten percent in almost all categories out of all counties nationwide.

The report ranks Winneshiek County as the best in Iowa in health behaviors.  That's because just 11 percent of county adults are smokers, while the state average is 18 percent.  The motor vehicle fatal accident rate is lower in the county, as is the teen birth rate.  

Winneshiek County is ranked 9th in Social and Economic factors.  A 96 percent high school graduation rate among county residents helps a lot, as does a violent crime rate that is 20 percent of the overall state rate.  But the report calculated that 17 percent of the county's population lives with inadequate social support.

Winneshiek County also has room for improvement in the area of clinic care.  The county has fewer doctors and dentists per capita than the statewide average, although it does well in preventing unnecessary hospital stays and in encouraging diabetic screenings.

Winneshiek County does especially well when its figures are compared with national statistics, placing in the top 10 percent nationwide in nearly every category studied.  The lone exception?  20 percent of Winneshiek County residents say they have engaged in excessive drinking—versus the national goal of just seven percent.

For a complete report, visit http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/iowa/2013/county/snapshots/191