Who is the least healthy in the Tri-Parish area?

St. Landry Parish is the least healthy parish in the Tri-Parish area according to an annual report by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.
But the parishes are closely ranked in Louisiana with St. Landry at 53rd, Evangeline at 52nd and Acadia at 51st in health outcomes, which is based on length and quality of life.
Acadia Parish residents are in a much better position in health factors, where it ranked 20th in the state compared to Evangeline at 48 and St. Landry at 49. Health factors include scores for health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors and the physical environment.
The rankings are to help communities identify and implement solutions to health issues, the report stated.
The foundation will award $25,000 to 10 communities who are working to implement solutions in providing health lives.
The rankings are published online at countyhealthrankings.org.
“The rankings are unique in their ability to to measure the current overall health of each county in all 50 states,” the report stated. “They also look at a variety of measures that affect the future health of communities, such as high school graduation rates, access to healthy foods, rates of smoking, obesity and teen births.”
Details from the 2015 report include the following Tri-Parish and state results.
A fourth of St. Landry Parish adults report being in poor or faith health, compared to 22 percent in Evangeline, 20 percent in Acadia and 20 percent in the state.
Evangeline Parish leads the Tri-Parish area is low birthweight babies at 11.9 percent. In St. Landry 10.9 percent of babies are low birthweight and that percentage is 10.6 Acadia Parish. The state percentage of low birthweight babies is 10.9.
Evangeline Parish leads in the percentage of adult smokers at 26 percent, compared to 25 percent in St. Landry, 24 percent in Acadia and 22 percent in the state.
Forty-two percent of St. Landry Parish adults are obese compared to 35 percent in Evangeline, 32 percent in Acadia and 34 percent in Louisiana.
Eighteen percent of Acadia and Evangeline parish adults report binge or heavy drinking, compared to 15 percent in St. Landry and 16 percent in the state.
Forty percent of driving deaths involved alcohol in Evangeline Parish, higher than St. Landry with 36 percent, Acadia with 29 percent and the state with 33 percent.
There were 596 cases of newly diagnosed chlamydia cases per 100,000 population in Evangeline Parish, 595 in St. Landry, 489 in Acadia and 594 in the state.
There were 72 births per 1,000 births to mothers ages 15 to 19 in St. Landry Parish, 70 in Evangeline, 65 in Acadia and 50 in the state.
In Acadia Parish, 21 percent of the population under 65 did not have health insurance. The number of uninsured was 19 percent in Acadia and St. Landry parishes and in the state.
Finding a doctor was more difficult in Acadia Parish than in St. Landry and Acadia parishes and in the state. There were 2,814 primary care providers to each person in Acadia Parish compared to 1,605 in Evangeline, 1,494 in St. Landry and 1,555 in the state.
Acadia Parish’s graduation rate is 79 percent, which is higher than St. Landry’s 64 percent, Evangeline’s 62 percent and the state’s 73 percent.
Forty-eight percent of St. Landry Parish children live in single-parent households, which is higher than Evangeline’s 41 percent, Acadia’s 40 percent and the state’s 43 percent.
Violent crime is more prevalent in St. Landry Parish with 669 violent offenses are reported per 100,000 population. In Evangeline Parish the number is 263, In Acadia 433 and in state it is 536.
Twenty-six percent of St. Landry Parish residents are potentially exposed to water exceeding a violation limit. In Evangeline it’s 24 percent, in Acadia, 16 percent and in the state, 15 percent.