Home / News / Greenlee County has received national attention for its health improvements that have targeted lifestyle health factors including obesity, smoking, excessive drinking and more.

Greenlee County has received national attention for its health improvements that have targeted lifestyle health factors including obesity, smoking, excessive drinking and more.

May 14, 2019
Eastern Arizona Courier

The story of personal health is a grim one in the United States, but Greenlee County is doing its part to change that narrative.

Greenlee managed to achieve top scores in the 2019 County Health Rankings and Roadmaps national study. The study grades counties on 36 different rankings and compares them to other counties in their state.

"Over the last nine years, Greenlee County has been moving up in overall ranking. Each county in the nation is scored and ranked based on health outcomes and factors," the Greenlee County Health Department wrote. "Overall rankings for each county are based on the weighted results from these measures. Greenlee County has improved the outcomes and factors and remains ranked overall at second in the state of Arizona."

Greenlee County has received national attention for its health improvements that have targeted lifestyle health factors including obesity, smoking, excessive drinking and more. In February of this year Fun, Fit, Fabulous February involved the community in an effort to promote healthy diet and exercise complete with events and local role models. This year has seen the county drop from 34.5 percent to 29.6 percent obesity prevalence among adults.

Greenlee County is ranked best in the state for quality of life, and the social and economic factors for a healthy lifestyle. The county is second in the state in health outcomes and health factors, third in physical environment, fifth in length of life, sixth in clinical care and ninth in health behaviors.

"Our success with the county health rankings over the years is the result of community partnerships and communitywide effort. Everyone has been involved," Greenlee County Health Director Steve Rutherford said. "Freeport-McMoRan has been steadfast in their support and efforts to make Greenlee County the healthiest community in Arizona. The FMI Community Center in Morenci, with its state-of-the-art facility and energetic staff, has been a huge driver in our success.

"The United Way of Graham and Greenlee Counties has supported many projects to provide greater access to healthy activities throughout the county. The schools are doing a fantastic job of educating and guiding our young toward healthier choices, hosting health and science fairs, and increasing physical activity and better nutrition in our schools. The towns of Clifton and Duncan have increased access to parks and physical activities for all to enjoy. The residents of Greenlee County have, ultimately, been responsible for these successes. As a community, we identified a problem; and as a community, we have been tackling it."

Nearby Graham County is ranked the ninth healthiest in Arizona. Maricopa County was ranked healthiest, and Apache County is the least healthy in the state.

You can read the full county health report online at http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/.

 

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