Central Missouri counties make up a patch of the healthiest counties in the state.
Cole County ranks as the 14th-healthiest county in Missouri, according to Robert Wood Johnson and University of Wisconsin’s annual 2022 County Health Rankings report.
The annual report, which this year included new measures surrounding income, education, family and social support, and health outcomes, focused this year on the importance of pursuing economic security for each family in all communities, according to its executive summary of national findings. It pulled from data, that in many cases go through 2020.
“As we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the layered crises of racism and economic exclusion, we can work to ensure that individuals, households and communities can meet their essential needs with dignity and pursue opportunities for health,” the summary found. The pandemic revealed and worsened the burdens and barriers that women, people of color and people with low incomes face. It also underscored the resources have not been distributed fairly within and across communities.”
Cole County has remained in the teens for several years, in part because residents have access to activities, healthy foods and good health care, data show.
Obesity remains one of the most challenging factors affecting health in Cole County, the report shows. Thirty-five percent of the adult population reports a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or above. The BMI is a measure of body fat based on height and weight.
Cole County Health Department Director Kristi Campbell said the ranking isn’t surprising.
“Obesity has been an issue in Cole County and the rest of the state for quite some time — along with smoking, along with the negative consequences of those conditions/behaviors,” Campbell said. “We have seen an increase in sexually transmitted infections recently. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated already growing problems. Our future goal will be to focus on promoting healthy lifestyles … all the behaviors that lead to being healthier and reducing the risk of adverse health conditions. To be more proactive about health than reactive.”
In Cole County, 19 percent of adults report as current smokers. The rate is little better than the state average (20 percent). Comparatively, 22 percent of adults report as being smokers in the healthiest county in Central Missouri, Osage County.
Osage County ranks as the state’s eighth-healthiest county.
Boone County is the 10th healthiest in Missouri. Moniteau County is the 17th healthiest, according to the report. Camden County ranks 18; followed by Callaway County, 23; Miller County, 49; Maries County, 56; and Morgan County, which ranks among the unhealthiest in the state at 93.
Platte and Clay counties, in the Kansas City area, rank first and third, respectively for statewide health. St. Charles County ranks second.
Southeastern portions of Missouri, including the Bootheel, remain the unhealthiest parts of Missouri. Pemiscot County ranked worst (115), followed by Dunklin, New Madrid and Mississippi counties. The City of St. Louis was fifth worst.
Factors affecting the city were low birthweight, adult obesity, sexually transmitted infections, teen births, low rates of insurance, shortages of physicians or dentists, low vaccination rates and low health screening rates.
Despite a wide urban and rural divide between St. Louis and the counties in the Bootheel, issues appeared similar.
Pemiscot County, for example, showed high rates of reports of low birthweight, teen births, uninsured residents, sexually transmitted infections and low health screenings.
The urban and rural counties appear to share similar health behaviors (factors, which the report points out may be changed) surrounding tobacco use, diet and exercise, alcohol and drug use, and sexual activity.
Access to care and quality of care are also similar challenges for the disparate counties.
“Health factors represent community conditions that we can change to improve health and opportunity, such as access to quality education, living wage jobs, quality clinical care, nutritious foods, green spaces, and secure and affordable housing,” the report states.
Many factors impact how long and how well people live, the report points out.
The data may show how these factors shape community conditions, but also highlight the stark differences in health that stem from injustices and barriers to opportunities, it says.
Nowhere is the urban/rural divide more evident in Central Missouri than in accessibility to health care.
Despite significant challenges getting health care, Osage County remains eighth-ranked possibly because people live longer, the county lacks housing issues, it has low crime rates and clean air and water, among other factors. Osage County has 4,540 residents per primary care physician.
Statewide, there are 1,400 residents per every primary care physician. In Cole County, there are 1,530 residents per primary care physicians, according to the report. Unsurprisingly, Boone, with several hospital systems boasts only 850 residents per primary care physician. Camden County, which has a hospital, matches the state rate with only 1,400 patients per physician.
Data weren’t available for Maries County, but Callaway County (which had a hospital at the time data was collected) had 2,630 residents per physician. In Miller County, the ratio was 2,850 to one; Moniteau County, 8,070 to one; and Morgan County, 4,130 to one.
Similar disparities showed for dentists. The state average is 1,650 residents per dentist. Cole County had 1,550 to one; Boone County, 1,420 to one; Callaway County, 4,080 to one; Camden County, 1,860 to one; Maries County, 2,930 to one; Miller County, 4,300 to one; Moniteau County, 2,600 to one; Morgan County, 6,910 to one; and Osage County, 4,510 to one.
“I am not surprised by the higher ranking of our community and the fact that we have a high rate of access to services,” Campbell said. “Our community is blessed to have abundant resources for those seeking services. Our hospitals have community outreach programs and services. We have an active federally qualified health center in the Community Health Center of Central Missouri that does a great job with outreach and is always looking to expand services.”
Additionally, residents of a number of Central Missouri counties have reasonably easy access to mental health care providers. Statewide, there are 460 patients per mental health provider.
In Cole County, the ratio is also 460 to one; Boone County, 260 to one; Callaway County, 540 to one; and Camden County, 650 to one. However, Maries County is 2,930 to one; Miller County, 2,150 to one; Moniteau County, 3,120 to one; Morgan County, 2,300 to one; and Osage County, 13,340 to one (the estimated population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, is 13,379).