Out of 95 Tennessee counties, Grundy County ranks dead last overall for health outcomes in an analysis released Wednesday.
The health outcomes ranking, based on the number of people who live to age 75 and how often residents report feeling physically or mentally in poor health, as well as low birth weight rates, caught some county officials off guard.
“I was kind of surprised by the findings,” said Elizabeth Stiefel, chairwoman of the Grundy County Health Council, ticking off a list of county-level health programs to combat obesity and improve health, including building new walking trails.
“I think it gives us ammunition to kind of re-evaluate what we’re doing or if there’s a different angle we need to be taking,” she said.
The report, a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute, ranked all the counties in America within their states based on factors ranging from disease rates to unemployment levels.