Social and Economic Factors
Living wage: The hourly wage needed to cover basic household expenses plus all relevant taxes for a household of one adult and two children.
Severe household problems: Percentage of households with at least 1 of 4 housing problems: overcrowding, high housing costs, lack of kitchen facilities, or lack of plumbing facilities.
Children in poverty: The number of people under age 18 living in a household whose income is below the Poverty status is defined by family; either everyone in the family is in poverty or no one in the family is in poverty. The characteristics of the family used to determine the poverty threshold are: number of people, number of related children under 18, and whether or not the primary householder is over age 65. Family income is then compared to the poverty threshold; if that family’s income is below that threshold, the family is in poverty.
Child care cost burden: Child care costs for a household with two children as a percent of median household income.
Health Behavior Factors
Food Environment Index: Index of factors that contribute to a healthy food environment, from 0 (worst) to 10 (best). The County Health Rankings measure of the food environment accounts for both proximity to healthy foods and income. This measure includes access to healthy foods by considering the distance an individual lives from a grocery store or supermarket, locations for health food purchases in most communities, and the inability to access healthy food because of cost barriers.
Physical Inactivity: The percentage of adults age 18 and over reporting no leisure-time physical activity (age-adjusted).
Limited Access to healthy foods: Percentage of population who are low-income and do not live close to a grocery store. Living close to a grocery store is defined differently in rural and nonrural areas; in rural areas, it means living less than 10 miles from a grocery store; in nonrural areas, less than one mile. Low income is defined as having an annual family income of less than or equal to 200 percent of the federal poverty threshold for the family size.
Access to exercise opportunities: The percentage of individuals in a county who live reasonably close to a location for physical activity. Locations for physical activity are defined as parks or recreational facilities. Individuals are considered to have adequate access to exercise opportunities if they:
- reside in a census block that is within a half mile of a park, or
- reside in a census block that is within one mile of a recreational facility in an urban area, or
- reside in a census block that is within three miles of a recreational facility in a rural area.
Recommendation for aerobic physical activity: 150+ min/week of at least moderate intensity, or 75+ min/week of vigorous intensity, or an equivalent combination of aerobic physical activity.
Health Outcomes in Adults
BMI: Body Mass Index (BMI) is a person’s weight in kilograms (or pounds) divided by the square of height in meters (or feet). A high BMI can indicate high body fatness.
Adult Obesity: Percentage of the adult population (age 18 and older) that reports a BMI greater than or equal to 30 kg/m2 (age-adjusted).
References
Body Mass Index (BMI). (2022, June 3). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/index.html
How Healthy is your County? | County Health Rankings. (n.d.). County Health Rankings & Roadmaps. Retrieved July 28, 2023, from https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/county-health-rankings-roadmaps
IBIS-PH - Utah Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). (n.d.). Retrieved July 28, 2023, from https://ibis.health.utah.gov/ibisph-view/query/selection/brfss/BRFSSSelection.html
U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Utah. (n.d.). Retrieved July 28, 2023, from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/UT/PST045222
U.S. Hunger Relief Organization | Feeding America. (n.d.). Retrieved July 28, 2023, from https://www.feedingamerica.org/?_ga=2.15211958.1644707301.1690562338-76892207.1684449402&_gl=1*1pyufw6*_ga*NzY4OTIyMDcuMTY4NDQ0OTQwMg..*_ga_PC5FWFLBLY*MTY5MDU2MjM0MS4yNi4xLjE2OTA1NjI0MzkuMC4wLjA.
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