A recent ranking found that North Texans living in Collin and Denton Counties are among the healthiest individuals in the state.

The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute (PHI) released its report and county health rankings for 2023 at the end of March.

The main objective of the investigation is to assist officials in determining where to allocate their resources by recognizing the healthiest and least healthy counties in each state.

To determine the ranking, PHI researchers leveraged data relating to health outcomes such as incidents of premature death or low birth weight in each county.

These were considered alongside health factors like the rate of obesity and access to opportunities for physical exercise.

Although not included in the ranking, additional factors such as the number of physicians and dentists in the community or the high school completion rate were noted.

The findings resulted in Collin County being named the healthiest county in Texas for the second year in a row.

While 16% of Texans reported being in fair or poor health, only 11% of those living in Collin County felt that way.

Only 19% of respondents reported not being physically active compared to 25% statewide.

Yet the report noted that the county’s adult obesity rate of 28% was something to pay attention to, though lower than the statewide rate of 36%.

Obesity is an ongoing health crisis across the country. As The Dallas Express has extensively covered, obesity contributes to the risk of acquiring type 2 diabetes, contributes to the development of heart disease, and is linked to certain cancers.

Denton County maintained its ranking from last year and came in at No.2 in PHI’s report.

It also scored 8.1 out of a possible 10 on the food environment index, which refers to residents’ access to healthy foods and vulnerability to food insecurity.

Yet obesity was also highlighted in the report as an area to work on, with 30% of adults in Denton County considered obese.

The excessive drinking of alcohol was also flagged, with 22% of adults reporting binge or heavy drinking.

Binge drinking refers to consuming five (or four if a woman) or more drinks in a two-hour time period. In the long term, this can lead to a number of poor health outcomes, including high blood pressure, heart disease, liver disease, digestive problems, dementia, and obesity, as The Dallas Express has reported.

Dallas County did not fare as well as its North Texas fellows in this year’s PHI report.

Its ranking has dropped to No.52 from No.43 last year.

Dallas County matched the statewide adult obesity rate of 36% and showed almost twice the number of sexually transmitted disease infections. For every 100,000 residents, 706.6 were newly diagnosed with chlamydia compared to 466 statewide.

The report points to the high school completion rate of 81% as a social factor playing a role in the county’s poor health.

Respondents to a recent poll by The Dallas Express noted high levels of dissatisfaction with the Dallas Independent School District in particular. Almost half of those polled named “mismanagement” by the DISD school board as the main reason for its poor performance compared to other districts in the state.

Kaufman County lost three spots in the PHI ranking compared to last year, standing at No.64.

It shows the same adult obesity rate as Dallas County and has more smokers than the state average, logging 18% compared to 13%.

PHI additionally leveraged data to better understand the connection between community health and civic health, which broadly refers to the opportunities people have to participate in their communities.

The counties with better-equipped and more accessible civil infrastructure, including schools, parks, and libraries, reported better health outcomes. They also registered higher rates of civic participation, assessed via voter turnout and census participation rates.