A national health assessment that looks at every county in the nation ranks Glynn County in the upper middle of Georgia’s 159 counties.
The study conducted by the University of Wisconsin with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation considers health factors such as adult smoking, adult obesity, physical inactivity, excessive drinking, alcohol impaired driving deaths, sexually transmitted diseases, teen births and many others.
Glynn County is ranked in the higher middle range of Georgia counties at No. 76 for health outcomes for length of life and quality of life.
Glynn County ranked higher than the state average for adult smoking at 19%, for adult obesity at 36%, for physical inactivity at 27% and for excessive drinking at 17%.
To the south, Camden County is considered one of the state’s healthiest counties with a No. 19 ranking. The county had a 19% adult smoking rate, a 37% adult obesity rate, 27% physical inactivity rate and 17% excessive drinking rate.
What separates the two counties respectively is the number of uninsured, 15% in Camden versus 18% in Glynn, unemployment 3.2% versus 3.8%, children in poverty 17% compared to 26%, low birth weights 8% versus 12% and injury deaths 59 to 83.
To the north, McIntosh County ranked No. 107, considered in the lower middle range of Georgia counties for health outcomes and higher middle range for health factors. An estimated 21% are adult smokers. The adult obesity rate is 37%, physical inactivity 29% and excessive drinking 17%.
To the west, Brantley County is ranked among the lowest in the state at No. 130. It is considered to be among the least healthy counties. Rates are adult smokers 26%, adult obesity 38%, physical inactivity 33%, excessive drinking 17%.
The study determined past and present forms of discrimination and disinvestment matter.
“We can only share in a healthy, civically active future for our communities by acknowledging our past and working together to repair and realize what it means to thrive,” said Marjory Givens, co-director of County Health Rankings and Roadmaps.
Solutions to improving civic health include investing in libraries, community centers and other public places to encourage in-person connections, creating more youth leadership programs and increasing voter registration.
Communities that offer places for their residents to gather and that encourage voting and participation in civic life also experience better health, higher high school completion rates, higher household incomes and less income inequality, according to the study.
Residents in those communities also tend to live longer.
“Our findings reveal that people and places thrive when all residents have the chance to participate in their communities,” said Sheri Johnson, principal investigator of County Health Rankings & Roadmaps and director of the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.
“History shows that we can remake systems and structures through civic participation that are beneficial to all.”
