A recent survey ranks Summit County as the fifth healthiest county in Utah, behind Morgan, Cache, Utah and Wasatch counties, respectively.
According to Summit County Health Director Richard Bullough, the county would have ranked first or second if it hadn’t been for the county’s number of babies born with a low birth weight.
“We do have a higher proportion of women who choose to delay childbirth,” Bullough said. “When you choose to delay childbirth you also tend to have multiple births, and all those things trend toward a lower birth weight.”
Babies born with a low birth weight typically have higher rates of certain medical conditions, he added.
While the data is helpful in highlighting areas the county needs to focus on, Bullough said the county’s priorities remain unchanged.
“For purposes of the Health Department and the county in general, one of the things we do is look at health risks and look at data to identify and prioritize where we spend our money,” he said. “We’re not going to all of a sudden start a campaign to encourage women to give birth at a younger age. That’s a measure we’re not going to go after. But there are some other things that I think are critically worth focusing on.”
One issue of concern to the county is the high rate of binge drinking.
According to the report, 19 percent of Summit County’s population are excessively drinkers, compared to the state’s nine percent.
“Interestingly, we have a relatively high frequency of parents buying alcohol for their high school-age children,” he said. “It’s relatively common. I think that it’s a significant public health issue and a scenario we need to focus on.”
The County Health Department will also continue focusing on tobacco, diet and exercise, he said.
Bullough said he has some reservations about the data used by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wilsconsin, which conducted the study.
For example, one item the study looked at was the county’s PM2.5 measurements. PM2.5 are fine pollution-causing particles in the air measuring 2.5 micrometers are less.
“But we don’t report that to anybody, so I’m trying to find out where they got those numbers,” Bullough said. “The reason I’m sharing that is not necessarily to question the report itself, but just to say we have to be careful about interpreting the data,” he said.
Overall, Bullough said the county “should take some comfort in the fact that we are a pretty healthy county.”