Carson City ranks 12th in Nevada health-wise, national study says

When it comes to those of us in Nevada and Carson City — and the nation as far as that matters — the statistics show we’re not that healthy, according to a national study.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation working with the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute ranked cities, counties and states across the nation when it came to their health. The study looked at numerous health factors from the years 2010 to 2014 and was graded based on 50 percent going to length of life and 50 percent going to quality of life.

Carson ranked just 12th out of Nevada’s 17 counties as far as how healthy it was. But when comparing Carson with Douglas County — which was ranked as the healthiest county in the state — there was little difference when measuring the statistics in the major categories between the two counties.

Eighteen percent of Carson residents were in poor or fair health in the study while 13 percent of Douglas residents were in poor or fair health. Douglas did rank comparatively well to the nation as only the top 10 percent of counties rated below 12 percent, but the study also stated 17 percent of Nevada residents were in poor or fair health.

What could be considered an alarming statistic is the obesity rate for the entire nation. There was little difference between Douglas and Carson with Carson having an adult obesity rate of 24 percent. Douglas came in at 22 percent while only 10 percent of counties in the U.S. came in below 25 percent. The adult obesity rate for Nevada was also 25 percent.

Carson’s adult smoking rate was 17 percent compared to 15 percent for Douglas.

When it came to access to exercise opportunities, Carson actually ranked better than Douglas with 96 percent of Carson residents having access to exercise while 80 percent of Douglas residents had access to exercise. Carson, though, still had a slightly higher rate than Douglas of those who were physically inactive, 17 percent to 16 percent.

Carson also had a slightly higher rate than Douglas of those who drink excessively, but that was another statistic that could be considered alarming. Basically, nearly one in five adults drink excessively across the country, the study found. Carson was at 20 percent while Douglas was at 19 percent and only 10 percent of counties in the U.S. fell below 18 percent.

Douglas did have a much higher rate of alcohol-related driving deaths. Twenty-seven percent of driving deaths in Carson were alcohol-related while 45 percent were alcohol-related in Douglas.

Carson did have a much higher teen birth rate than Douglas, 48 per 1,000 to 19 per 1,000. Another concerning stat for Carson was the number of children living in poverty — 27 percent as compared to 17 percent for Douglas.

The uninsured rates for Carson and Douglas were virtually the same with Carson at 22 percent and Douglas at 20 percent for 2013.

Carson ranked ninth in the state in length of life and 13th in quality of life. The overall state rankings from first to 17th were:

Douglas; Pershing; Lincoln; Elko; Washoe; Clark; Lander; Humboldt; Eureka; Storey; Churchill; Carson; White Pine; Lyon; Esmeralda; Nye; Mineral.

For informaton on the study, visit countyhealthrankings.org.