COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The annual County Health Rankings report was presented to the Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency Board of Directors during their monthly meeting on Thursday.
The report was released by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and is supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Agency Health Officer Rebecca Burns said this may be the final year of the report as the foundation has indicated they will not be able to financially support the work.
She said the data supporting the report came from the years 2020-2022. According to Burns, some of the areas of concern included “Years of Life Lost Before Age 75”, “Physical Inactivity”, “Excessive Drinking”, and “Injury Deaths”.
Branch County was also above the national and state averages in adult smoking and adult obesity.
The report stated 40 percent of Branch County are overweight as they fell into the category of “adult obesity” while 20 percent of adults in the county smoke.
In addition, almost one out of every five Branch County residents, 19 percent, are in fair or poor health.
Burns indicated improvement was seen in “Sexually Transmitted Infections” in Branch and St. Joseph Counties as well as in “Child Poverty” and “Teen Births”.
The complete report can be found in the Board of Health meeting packet at www.bhsj.org.
This is not a statistic to ignore. We all need a lifestyle change ASAP.