Harvey County ranks high in health study

Harvey County residents are exercising healthy behaviors, helping the county reach a ranking of 21 out of 105 counties in the state in a recent Kansas Health Institute study.

The study indicated the county’s top three strengths were a low smoking rate, a low children in poverty rate and high use of seat belts. The county ranked 12th in the state in all three categories.

The county’s children in poverty rate is 11.4 percent compared to 15.2 percent statewide.

Smoking

The county’s smoking rate is 12.1 percent compared to a state average of 20.4 percent.

Harvey County Health Department director Rita Flickinger said she thinks the county and city of Newton and North Newton’s passage of the smoking bans encouraged people in the county to quit smoking.

“The cities in the county and the commissioners have taken an active role in the health of the community,” she said. “It speaks well of the active role they have taken in changing policy.”

Smoking during pregnancy also was less than the state average at 14.5 percent compared to 15.1 percent statewide.

Healthy lifestyles

The county also scored well in the areas of obesity, physical activity and low fruit and vegetable consumption compared to state averages.

Although more than half of Harvey County residents are categorized as overweight or obese, the Harvey County rate was 58.7 percent compared to 60.0 percent statewide.

Only 21.9 percent of Harvey County residents were inactive compared to 24.2 percent statewide.

Flickinger said she thought public policy also played a significant role in these statistics.

“We have an active recreation commission and the walking paths in Harvey County,” she said. “We have a lot of accessibility to become active in our lifestyles, and we are engaged in several projects to get people more active.”

Newton Medical Center is cooperating with the city to add a sidewalk connecting northern Newton to the hospital, said Steve Kelly, NMC president and CEO.

“People all over the city are affected by the walking trail at Bethel College. The community’s safe sidewalks have a big effect,” he said.

The hospital also has sponsored community-wide and work-site wellness and fitness programs.

NMC recently completed an incentive program to get its employees to eat more fruits and vegetables.

You are what

you eat

The percent of Harvey County residents had a high percentage of low fruits and vegetables consumption — 79.2 percent. However, that was still less than the state average of 81.2 percent.

Flickinger said those statistics were troubling, but that was not surprising considering the food choices available to many residents.

“If you go to a restaurant and look at the food that is available, it is all starches, carbs and fatty foods that are available and people are eating,” she said. “People have been eating this way for years and changing their habits. The quality of our health is based on the foods we eat, and the activity and exercise you do,” she said.

Health and crime

The study also addressed issues, such as binge drinking, violent crime, teen birth and sexually transmitted diseases.

The county’s rate of violent crime was higher than the state average at 269.8 crimes per 100,000 people compared to a statewide average of 222.9 crimes per 100,000 people statewide.

Newton Police Chief Jim Daily said he thought the county’s population density and proximity to a major metropolitan area may be contributing to that statistic. The violent crime rate in the city has increased 13 percent since 2006, a trend that has been mirrored in other communities Newton’s size.

Daily said it can be difficult to predict and prevent some violent crimes, such as rapes and murder.

However, property crimes can be reduced by locking doors, installing lights and trimming shrubs underneath windows.

Daily said he thinks public education has brought up the seat belt usage rate 72.5 percent compared to statewide average of 69.4 percent statewide.

For the last two years, Newton has participated in programs with the Kansas Department of Transportation to enhance seat belt enforcement.

The rate of sexually transmitted diseases was half the state average at 161 per 100,000 residents compared to a statewide average of 363.6 per 100,000 people.

Daily said that statistic in addition to a lower binge drinking rate (10.1 percent compared to 14.2 percent statewide) was due to early education in schools through the city’s School Resource Program.

Living longer

Overall, the study indicated Harvey County residents are living longer than their counterparts in the state.

This may be in part attributed to more residents with health care. At the time of the study, 92.4 percent of residents received adequate health care compared to 90.2 percent statewide.

The county had the same rate of insured residents as the state average at 87.6 percent.

County residents also accessed prenatal care at a higher rate than the state average at 83.3 percent compared to 79.7 percent statewide.

Kelly said the hospital has worked hard to provide a wide array of services to the area community and that may be contributing to good access to health care.

“I think it might sound self-serving, but the purpose of the hospital is to look at options to better serve the community’s health-care needs,” he said. “We now have services, equipment, buildings and physicians initiated by patients’ needs.”

Flickinger said she thought the resources, such as Health Ministries, may be contributing to the good care rate.

However, she said more needs to be done to educate the public of the community health resources that are available.

Vaccinations

Although Harvey County had a higher flu vaccine rate than the state — 39 percent, compared to 33.2 percent — Flickinger said it needed to be higher.

Health professionals are concerned a low flu vaccine rate will result in a more severe outbreak of the H1N1 virus, which also is known as the swine flu. Twenty-three counties in Kansas have had diagnosed cases, although Harvey County is not one of them. The virus is spreading slowly now, but health professionals fear the illness will become more aggressive as the weather turns colder.

Early indications are the county may have enough H1N1 vaccine for all county residents, Flickinger said.

It is just a matter of dispelling myths about vaccine and getting people to take advantage of the vaccine.

Lead poisoning

Another area of concern was the rate of lead poisoning in the county.

The rate of lead poisoning risk in the county was 31.8 percent compared to 28.3 percent statewide. Lead poisoning of children in the county happened at a rate of 1.4 percent compared to 1.1 percent in the state.

Children are at a higher risk in the county because of the number of older homes in area communities, Flickinger said.

The health department regularly checks children for lead when they come into the health department for other appointments. The health department also will come to local residences and check for lead free of charge, Flickinger said.

Education

The last area the study suggested the community could work on was its graduation rate, which the study reported at 87.2 percent compared to 89.1 percent statewide.

Newton superintendent John Morton said the figures may be misleading, because Newton has many students graduate from its alternative high school program at Axtell Education Center.

Students also are gaining back lost ground through the virtual prescriptive learning program, which allows students to earn back lost credits through online courses.

Flickinger said as a whole, the study has allowed the community to look at its strengths and weaknesses and move forward toward a healthier community.

“I think we are looking great at No. 21,” Flickinger said. “We can always improve in areas of specific health and wellness. We have a grant to work on wellness and coordinate with businesses. We are trying to make a difference with wellness projects and prevention issues.”