Clickbait headlines always mention lists. Perhaps, if the 2017 Community Health Assessment had called itself “The Book of Top Tens,” it would have gotten more widespread attention when it was released. The project documents trends in public health in Columbus, Worthington and Franklin County.
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Its 122 pages are thoroughly reader-friendly. You can learn about income disparities, you can learn about life expectancies, infant mortality, lead levels, and the ways people die. You can learn a lot of things that are peculiar to the region.
A few cases in point:
- In Columbus, 25 percent of the population has been diagnosed with a depressive disorder. That’s higher than the Franklin County figure (20 percent).
- About half of all adults consume fruit less than one time a day.
- About a quarter of all adults consume a vegetable less than one time a day.
- The life expectancy in Franklin County ranges from 60 to 82 years. That’s a big range. Where you fall on that range depends on what neighborhood you live in. Bexley and the Northwest are on the long-lived side. Southside, Linden and Franklinton get the short end of the stick.
- The leading cause of death in Franklin County is cancer (lung is the most common subtype). Aortic aneurysms kill about 41 people per year. You can find the rankings for the county on page 63, and for Columbus on page 83.
- Suicide is the #9 cause of death.
- Four times as many males as females commit suicide, the highest rate is in white males.
- Number of homeless at last count: 1,724.
- Number of beds available for the homeless: 1,872.
- 65 percent of us are overweight or obese.
You can find the original document at columbus.gov.