For the third consecutive year, Orange County has shown an improvement in its health rankings, although more remains to be done, newly released data on Wednesday, show.
Ranked 20th out of 67 counties in Florida in 2010, Orange County achieved a ranking of 12th this year, according to health outcomes in the fourth annual County Health Rankings & Roadmaps tool, published by the University of Wisconsin and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Department said, the improvement can be partly attributed to continuing improvements in premature death, including infant mortality, and adult smoking rates, among other measures.
“Health is everyone’s business,” said Lesli Ahonkhai, Interim Administrator of the Florida Department of Health in Orange County. “Optimal health really involves a broad spectrum of partners in government, education, business and civic organizations.”
Despite the improvements however, challenges remain with regard to adult obesity and the rate of physical activity when compared to national benchmarks. The Department has partnered with many stakeholders to implement a Community Health Improvement Plan which has a focused effort to decrease diabetes, heart disease rates and deaths with the help of an online tool called Healthy Measures that tracks many factors that contribute to an individual’s health.
The County Health Rankings & Roadmaps tool uses traditional, established data, much of which was obtained from the Florida Department of Health Department in Orange County.
The rankings serve as a snapshot of the health of individuals across counties, not only in Florida, but in each state across the country.
