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Heavy Drinking A Drag On Colorado Health

Frerieke
/
Flickr - Creative Commons

High alcohol consumption is dragging down health in many Colorado counties, from Denver to the mountains.

That's according to the annual County Health Rankings produced by the nation’s largest public health foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

In Colorado, Pitkin and Douglas counties ranked No. 1 and No. 2 on overall health, based on numerous factors, from residents’ own reporting of their health, to rates of smoking, obesity, and coverage by insurance and primary care doctors. A prime source of information is a national phone survey by the Center for Disease Control that reaches 500,000 people a year. Details of this year’s Robert Wood Johnson Foundation report can be found at www.countyhealthrankings.org.

High alcohol use is the third leading lifestyle-related cause of death in the United States, causing 80,000 deaths a year, the report said. Excessive drinkers are more likely to drive drunk. Heavy alcohol use also increases the risk of heart attacks, injuries, violence, fetal alcohol syndrome and sexually transmitted diseases, the report said.

The highest incidence of excessive drinking came in Routt and Pitkin counties, home to the Steamboat Springs and Aspen ski resort communities. Some 31 percent of adults in Routt County and 30 percent in Pitkin said they drank at one of two levels defined as unhealthy by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Heavy drinking is averaging more than one drink a day for women and two for men. Binge drinking is defined as four beverages in two hours for women – or five for men.

These levels were set by the CDC and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, because they have “a deleterious impact on health,” said Amanda Jovaag, an epidemiologist with County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, which compiles the data.

Teaching people to consume alcohol only at healthy levels is tough, Jovaag said. That’s because “research shows a certain amount of drinking may have positive impacts on health, if it’s the right kind of drinking and done at the right rate. But levels above that can be very harmful to health,” she said.

Overall, about 18 percent of Coloradans said they exceed these standards, nearly triple what the authors said would be a healthier rate of 7 percent of adults.

The report didn’t factor in teen binge drinking – which is nearly as common, according to another recent study, the Colorado Health Report card. That study found the state average for adults to be significantly higher at 23 percent for binge drinking alone.

Excessive drinking tends to be higher both among Latinos and people with more money and education.

Pitkin County otherwise ranked No. 1 in the state for overall health, in part because residents said they felt poorly less often than other Coloradans. Pitkin also had fewer preventable stays in the hospital. In addition, only 8 percent of adults smoke, compared to 28 percent in Las Animas County in southeastern Colorado. And only 14 percent in Pitkin County are obese, compared to 27 percent in Kit Carson County on the Nebraska border.

Douglas County, south of Denver, ranked No. 2 in health with similar reasons.

La Plata County, home to Durango, came in at No. 6, with low numbers for teen births, children in poverty and preventable stays in the hospital.

Sparsely populated Yuma County in northeastern Colorado ranked No. 7, in part due to the very low 6 percent of adults who drink heavily and a small number of fast food restaurants. People there reported having few days when they felt ill, but the county ranked near the bottom for having insurance and enough primary care doctors.

Weld County, home to Greeley, ranked No. 21 with high obesity, poor reported health, a high number of preventable stays in the hospital, and a serious shortage of dentists and primary care physicians.

Mesa County on the Western Slope ranked No. 33 with poor reported health but low numbers of preventable stays in the hospital, good rates of screening for diabetes and more primary care physicians than typical in the state.

In the southern past of the state, El Paso County came in at No. 34 with high rates of premature death and babies being born at an unhealthy low weight. It has significantly fewer primary care physicians per resident as well.

Denver County ranked No. 40, with high rates of premature deaths, child poverty, heavy drinking and people without social or emotional support. But it has plenty of primary care physicians.

Colorado’s healthiest 10 counties

Countyhealthrankings.org uses the public’s estimates of their own health and data about health, the environment and social factors to rank counties for health.

  1. Pitkin
  2. Douglas
  3. Eagle
  4. Summit
  5. Boulder
  6. La Plata
  7. Yuma
  8. Broomfield
  9. Larimer
  10. Routt
Colorado Public News is created in partnership with Colorado Public Television 12, Denver’s independent PBS station. It is led by editor Ann Imse. Others on the Colorado Public News team include:Cara DeGette, managing editorNoelle Leavitt, recruiting and social media directorSonya Doctorian, video journalistDrew Jaynes, webmaster and photographerJournalists Bill Scanlon, Dennis Huspeni, Jody Berger, Sara Burnett, Jerd Smith, Michele Conklin, Andy Piper, Lauren Rickel, Raj Sharan, Amanda TurnerRobert D. Tonsing, publication designer and entrepreneur
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