Report: 46% of Marion Countians say their health is 'excellent or very good'

The percentage of Marion County adults who described their overall health status as "excellent or very good" remained the same on the two most recent community health assessment released by Marion Public Health.

According to the 2022 report, overall, 46% of local adults rated their health status as "excellent or very good," which matched the report released in 2019. However, that figure was below both the state and national percentages. According to reports from 2020, in Ohio, 55% of adults said their health status was "excellent or very good," while 57% of adults nationwide noted the same status.

On the flip side, 20% of Marion County adults rated their general health as "fair or poor," which is also above the state (16%) and national (13%) averages.

In Marion County, 49% of women and 44% of men surveyed listed their health status as "excellent or very good." According to the assessment, 55% of individuals with an income of more than $25,000 described their health as "excellent or very good," while 59% of people whose income is less than $25,000 rated their health as "fair/poor."

Health status perception is one of seven sections included in the chapter that addresses health behaviors found in the 2022 Marion County Community Health Assessment. The other sections address adult weight status, adult tobacco use, adult alcohol consumption, adult drug use, adult sexual behavior, and adult mental health.

"Health behaviors are those factors that really drive us to either have a health life or have an unhealthy life," Marion County Health Commissioner Traci Kinsler said. "So, we try to look at them and see what kind of behaviors lead you to more risk in your life − like a chronic or communicable disease − and what, on the end of the spectrum, are those behaviors that set you up for good health."

According to the 2022 community health assessment, maintaining what would be considered a healthy weight continues to be a problem for Marion County residents. The report shows that 82% of those surveyed were either overweight (37%) or obese (45%), according to their body mass index (BMI). "This puts them at elevated risk for developing a variety of preventable diseases," the report noted.

In Ohio, 70% of people reported being overweight (34%) or obese (36%), according to a 2020 report. Nationally, the figure is 67% with 35% of Americans listed as overweight and 32% being obese.

According to the report, in 2022, 37% of Marion County adults ate one-to-two servings of fruits and/or vegetables per day. Forty-five percent (45%) ate three-to-four servings per day, and 13% ate five or more servings per day. Five percent (5%) of adults ate zero servings of fruits and/or vegetables per day.

Cory Pierce, a health equity specialist for Marion Public Health, said the agency has developed recommendations to help residents take a more healthy approach to controlling weight issues.

"We want people to be physically active. We want them to eat multiple servings of fruits and vegetables every day," Pierce said. "We're just trying to create that environment where it's easy for them to go about doing that. It's easy to tell somebody to go outside and be active for half an hour a day or eat two servings of broccoli a day, but you need to build that support system so that it's easier for them to do that."

To that end, Marion Public Health is working with various local agencies to try to improve access and affordability for people who may not have adequate resources to obtain healthy food, said Erin Creeden, development manager for Marion Public Health.

"This year we're working with our farmers markets in Caledonia and downtown Marion, providing some incentives," Creeden said. "We're working with River Valley (Local School District) on their farm to institution to bring more local produce into the school system."

Creeden said Marion Public Health is also working with local agencies to develop a transportation plan, which includes improving bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure in Marion in hopes of providing better access to local parks and the city's downtown district.

These efforts are in tune with what Marion County adults communicated in the 2022 health assessment. Marion County adults reported the following would help them use community parks, bike trails, and walking paths more frequently: more available parks, bikes, and walking paths (34%); improvements to existing parks, trails, and paths (26%); more accessible parks, bike trails, or walking paths (25%); designated safe routes (23%); better promotion and advertising of existing parks, trails and paths (18%); and more public events and programs involving parks, trails and paths (16%).

To view the complete 2022 Marion County Community Health Assessment, go to the Marion Public Health website marionpublichealth.org.

Email: ecarter@gannett.com | Twitter: @AndrewACCarter

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Report: 46% of Marion Countians say health is 'excellent or very good'