By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
Ellis County continued its downward trend in the annual Kansas county health rankings.
Rankings released last week by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute ranked Ellis County 18th in overall health.
Ellis, which ranked as high as No. 4 in 2012, has fallen in the rankings in three of the last four years.
According to the study, the percentage of adults who smoke, fatal accidents involving alcohol and sexually transmitted infections are on the rise in Ellis County. Adult obesity and excessive drinking also continue to be negative factors.
Twenty-percent of Ellis County residents are current smokers, according to the study, which is tied with eight counties for the third-most in Kansas. In the 2013 and 2014 studies, 15 percent of people reported they smoked. The statewide average is 17 percent.
Ellis County saw an increase in the number of fatal accidents involving alcohol. According to the report, there were 28 driving deaths in Ellis County in 2014 — 15 of them involved alcohol. Fourteen of the 31 fatal accidents involved alcohol the year before.
The number of sexually transmitted infections reported in the county saw an increase. According to the most recent numbers, in 2013 there were 145 new chlamydia cases reported in Ellis County, an increase of 36 from the 109 reported in 2012.
The percentage of adults who are considered obese saw a slight decline in the most recent rankings to 29-percent, ranking Ellis County seventh lowest in Kansas. Ellis County has consistently reported between 29 and 30-percent adult obesity.
According to the study, Ellis County also ranked in the top 10 in the percentage of adults reporting binge or heavy drinking. Nineteen-percent of county residents reported consuming more than four, for women or five, for men alcoholic beverages on a single occasion in the past 30 days, or heavy drinking, defined as drinking more than one, women or two, men drinks per day on average. That ranks Ellis County sixth in Kansas.
Overall, Johnson County was No. 1 in the rankings while Wyandotte County, which is right next door, was ranked last of the 101 ranked counties.
Thomas County ranked second followed by Logan County. Trego County was No. 20, Gove ranked 38th, Rooks County was 40th and Rush was ranked No. 77.