Falls Church, Arlington Rank As Healthiest Localities In Virginia
FALLS CHURCH/ARLINGTON, VA — The City of Falls Church ranked as the healthiest locality in Virginia and Arlington County came in the No. 2 position, while Petersburg city ranked as the least healthy locality in Virginia, according to new data published Wednesday by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.
Falls Church ranked No. 1 in Virginia for both health factors and health outcomes, while Arlington ranked No. 2 in both categories.
Health factors represent things that, if modified, can improve length and quality of life, according to the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps for 2022. They are predictors of how healthy communities can be in the future. The four health factor areas in the model include health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and physical environment.
Health outcomes represent how healthy a county or city is right now. They reflect the physical and mental well-being of residents through measures representing the length and quality of life typically experienced in the community, according to the institute's new report.
Both Falls Church and Arlington scored high in many categories, including access to exercise opportunities, a large percentage of their populations with health insurance, and preventable hospital stays.
The only categories where Falls Church could improve, according to the report, are excessive drinking, adult obesity, and harmful air pollution caused by particulate matter. In Arlington, the two categories listed as potential areas of improvement were excessive drinking and mammography screening.
Rounding out the top 5 in the ranking of Virginia localities were Loudoun County, which ranked No. 3 for both health factors and health outcomes, and Fairfax County, which ranked No. 4 for both health factors and health outcomes. The City of Alexandria ranked No. 5 for health outcomes, but No. 13 for health factors. York County ranked No. 5 for health factors.
Petersburg City ranked at the bottom, No. 133, for both health outcomes and health factors in Virginia.
The 2022 report focused on the importance of economic security for all communities, especially as the nation recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a result of the pandemic, several new measures were introduced into the rankings, including the cost of childcare, which can pose a threat to economic security for families.
In Virginia’s localities, it ranges from 14 to 36 percent of family income. According to the report, the typical cost burden of childcare among U.S. counties is about 25 percent of household income, higher than the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ benchmark of seven percent.
Median household income varies by race and ethnicity across Virginia counties, according to the report, ranging between $52,929 for Black households to $108,033 for Asian households. These income disparities demonstrate how economic security is not equally accessible to all people living in Virginia.
Another new health measure included in the 2022 report was COVID-19 deaths in 2020. Virginia’s rate, 56 deaths per 100,000 people, is lower than the national rate of 85 per 100,000.
“The results of the study make it clear that health disparities and inequities occur, not only between regions of the Commonwealth, but also within localities, even the wealthy ones,” Virginia State Health Commissioner Colin M. Greene said in a statement Wednesday.
The report also looked at the average number of “mentally unhealthy days” people reported in the past 30 days. At 4.2 days, Virginia is slightly better than the national average of 4.5 days. Virginia’s counties ranged from 3.3 to 5.8 days.
Mental health outcomes are an important measure because untreated mental health disorders have a serious impact on physical health and are associated with the prevalence, progression, and outcome of some of today’s most pressing chronic diseases, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
For more information on the 2022 County Health Rankings, visit www.countyhealthrankings.org.
This article originally appeared on the Falls Church Patch
