The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s annual county health assessment places Sussex as the healthiest county followed by New Castle and Kent.
But all three scored low in behavioral health factors like smoking and obesity. About 18% of adult Delawareans smoke and 32% are considered overweight.
There is also still a high rate of infant mortality and underweight births in Delaware. But Director of Public Health Dr. Karyl Rattay says progress has been made from about a decade ago, when the state was ranked with the second highest rate of infant mortality in the nation.
“We’ve made a lot of strides in the clinical setting. So in the healthcare setting prenatal care has improved. But where we really need to see our greatest improvements is helping women become healthier before they become pregnant,” said Rattay.
Kent County scored poorly in preventable hospital stays, and it has a low ratio of primary care physicians per population—2,200 residents to every physician. Rattay says it has been more difficult to recruit Primary Care Doctors to Kent.
“New Castle County has less of an issue and in Sussex County the beach area tends to be a bigger draw for people to move into Sussex County,” said Rattay.
All three counties scored poorly in violent crime per population.