Peoria County continues to have moderately healthy residents when compared to the rest of Illinois, according to the annual County Health Rankings released today by the University of Wisconsin, Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

This is the fourth year of the Rankings Report which ranks the overall health of counties in all 50 states to provide a snapshot of how healthy people are and how long they live. Researchers used many standard measures and factors to assess the overall health including health behaviors, social and economic factors, rates of smoking, uninsured adults, number of primary care providers, access to healthy foods, and air pollution.

The 2013 County Health Rankings reveals that Peoria County ranked in the middle for overall health when compared to the 102 counties in the state. The Rankings provides the details on factors the influence its health rating and why Peoria County ranks high at 7th in clinical care but only 66th in overall health.

In reviewing the Rankings Report, Greg Chance, Administrator at the Peoria City/County Health Department, states, ” The Rankings help counties see what is affecting the health of their residents so they can see where they are doing well, where they need to improve, and what steps they need to take as a community to improve health. A significant change in health factors from past years suggests the challenge to becoming a healthier community lies in changing health behaviors. As a community, we need to use a systems approach to influence health and promote health improvement policy on many behavioral issues like tobacco-free communities, violent crime, and reducing our high STD and teen birth rates.”

Chance adds, “Current community efforts to improve Peoria County’s health status resulted in the Peoria County Community Health Needs Assessment and Improvement Plan. This planning document identifies priority community health challenges within Peoria County and outlines suggested intervention strategies to improve health status in Peoria County.”

To view the County Health Rankings Report, visit their website at: www.countyhealthrankings.org. For more information on the Peoria County Community Health Improvement Plan and other important public health issues, visit the Peoria City/County Health Department website at www.pcchd.org.