New County Health Rankings Reveal Weaknesses In Fredericksburg

Fredericksburg VA

22 April, 2021

11:11 AM

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FREDERICKSBURG, VA — The City of Fredericksburg is considered among the middle of the pack for healthy areas in Virginia, according to this year's recently released County Health Rankings and Roadmaps. Published annually for the last decade, County Health Rankings is a program led by the University of Wisconsin's Population Health Institute. The goal of the rankings is to help communities better address disparities in health care access. The rankings look at a variety of measures that affect a community's health, including high school graduation rates and access to healthy foods. Rates for smoking, obesity and teen births are also incorporated. In addition to assigning each county a number ranking, this year's rankings also compare each county to other counties in a state before placing it in one of four tiers, or quartiles, ranging from most to least healthy. Overall, the City of Fredericksburg was ranked 54th among all areas in Virginia. In health outcomes, the city was ranked in the "higher middle" range, meaning it is ranked higher than 50 per cent of other counties in Virginia. In health factors, the city ranked in the lower middle tier, higher than 25 per cent of counties in the state.. The 2021 County Health Rankings do not reflect coronavirus cases or deaths, according to researchers, who released this year's findings mainly to provide a glimpse at what influenced a community's health long before the COVID-19 pandemic. "These gaps in opportunity have to be addressed if we want a fair, inclusive, and equitable recovery from the pandemic," the organization wrote on its website. The organization said it anticipates coronavirus data will be reflected in the 2022 rankings. It also noted that counties that went into the pandemic with fewer opportunities to better resident health will exit it with "an even greater burden." "This crisis has only deepened the avoidable and unfair gaps that Black, Latino, Indigenous, and some Asian-American communities faced pre-COVID-19 in jobs with fair pay, housing, education, and more," the organization said on its website. Here's a look at the measures used to calculate the city's overall ranking: Health Outcomes Premature deathAdults reporting fair or poor healthPhysically unhealthy days reported in the past 30 daysMentally unhealthy days reported in the past 30 daysLive births with low birth weight Health Factors - Health Behaviors Adult smokersAdult obesityHealthy Food Environment IndexPhysical inactivityResidents with access to exercise opportunitiesExcessive drinkingDriving deaths attributed to alcohol impairmentSexually transmitted infectionsTeen births Health Factors - Clinical Uninsured residentsPrimary care physiciansDentistsMental health providersPreventable hospital staysMammography screeningsFlu vaccinations Health Factors - Social And Economic High school completionCollege educationUnemploymentChildren in povertyIncome inequalityChildren in single-parent householdsSocial associationsViolent crimeInjury deaths County Health Rankings used data from a variety of sources to compile this year's rankings. To see a list of data sources, read Virginia's full report. See this year's health snapshot and numbers for the City of Fredericksburg.