Dakota and Scott counties' health rankings (Minneapolis, St. Paul: neighborhood, high school, income)

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Health rankings: Scott and Dakota counties | StarTribune.com

• The question of why a fairly high-end suburban county would not beat statewide averages when it comes to health conditions will certainly draw sustained attention. One possible factor: While Scott continues to teem with young families, Dakota, settled far earlier, is quietly growing old.
  
• Obesity is front and center on Dakota County's agenda. Health officials are urging residents to stroll about on sidewalks and trails. And a host of programs aim to teach kids to eat fruits and vegetables.
  
• A 2007 survey found Scott's teen binge drinking rate the highest in the metro, with an update due this year. County officials call it "a high-priority problem."
  
• National experts are struck by how low this figure is for both relatively well-off counties. It's perhaps just a sign that commuters are being treated closer to Minneapolis and St. Paul, near their jobs.
  
• Scott County's social services spending per capita is rock-bottom, one of the lowest in the state, and officials are warning that the county risks big expenses later if it neglects screening and prevention.
  
• Dakota County is relatively upscale, but the number of low-income residents has grown. Add an increasing racial and ethnic diversity, and officials say the "social and economic" factors are triggering more health care challenges.
  
• Dakota's homicide numbers are creeping up and at times have grown close to that of what's become a safer Minneapolis -- a remarkable turnabout.
  
• This could be a rising trouble spot for suburbs across the metro area. Whether or not it's tied to heavy auto dependence, it could affect drivers: new federal standards could restrict funding of highways for air-polluted counties.
  
• Scott County's high school graduation rates are shriveling, a trend that county officials are tempted to tie to rising rates of racial and ethnic diversity, including a more "mobile" group than before, less settled and more transitory.

[Camden Northsider]

Very interesting- I wasn't able to open the page the article linked to, but I was specifically curious as to any higher incidences of asthma, etc. pertaining to health concerns in Dakota County- I would be curious to know whether the major oil refinery just outside of Rosemount, and/or some of the other big polluting manufacturers in the county, have been noted to have any adverse impacts on the general population's health and well-being. Or if any of the local residents are organizing to ensure stricter standards on these companies?

[golfgal]

Asthma rates are increasing across the country, it isn't limited to Dakota county . The refinery is far removed from the actual town of Rosemount and has little impact on the air quality. I would be curious to see the same report for Hennepin County as I suspect is is far worse.

[Voyageur]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Asthma rates are increasing across the country, it isn't limited to Dakota county . The refinery is far removed from the actual town of Rosemount and has little impact on the air quality. I would be curious to see the same report for Hennepin County as I suspect is is far worse.

Also, the vast majority of the population of Dakota County is upwind of the refinery.

[uptown_urbanist]

Here's the full report.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/fea...althreport.pdf

I wouldn't say that the report for Hennepin County is "far worse" (and in fact HC was number one for health behaviors), although obviously Hennepin County is paying close attention to health needs, too. I think the difference is that everyone is well aware of the issues facing big urban areas, while the stats for these other counties are more newsworthy and interesting because they reflect evolving social changes, and in the case of the potential impact of federal standards and highways, has some very practical implications that go beyond health alone.

[Camden Northsider]

Originally Posted by Voyageur

Also, the vast majority of the population of Dakota County is upwind of the refinery.

Well, considering it's the largest refinery in MN, and the 10th (or 14th depending on which source?) largest refinery in the US, I wouldn't diminish the potential impact of it being 8 miles from the city center of Rosemount.

Also, I answered my own question via Wikipedia, it sounds like Pine Bend refinery has had to clean up its act (via $19M in fines in the 90s/2000), and have dropped their emissions by 50% since that time. The article also noted that a study found kids/elderly living in Rosemount and Apple Valley to have asthma rates almost double the national average at time of study (date unclear, but at some point during 90s or 2000 it sounds like).

Pine Bend Refinery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[golfgal]

the smog in Minneapolis is great too...

[uptown_urbanist]

If I were a resident of Rosemount or Apple Valley I wouldn't really care about the smog or asthma rates in Minneapolis (other than in the general sense of caring because no one should have to live with poor air quality, I mean, even if I don't live there). For practical purposes I would care about the air in my specific neighborhood. Thank goodness someone was keeping an eye out on the issue, as it sounds like great strides have been made since the cleanup.

In general, I think it's a very helpful thing to look at these things from the big picture as well as at the micro local level. In Minneapolis there is plentiful data available on health issues by neighborhood or community; I assume that's the case in all the suburbs, too. If I lived in Dakota or Scott County (or any of the towns or suburbs in them) I would also be happy to have some detailed information about my own county. So often things get lumped into metro area vs. greater MN, or Minneapolis vs suburbs. That has its place, but isn't as useful for when it comes to targeting highly localized problems or potential solutions. Even within Minneapolis (although I don't think this needs to evolve into a discussion about Minneapolis air quality or asthma, although admittedly that would be of more practical interest to me than Dakota or Scott Counties) there are large variations within the city. Overall, though, the asthma rates don't statistically much between the city of Minneapolis and Hennepin County; no idea how the city as a whole stacks up against the cities as a whole of Apple Valley and Rosemount. In the big picture, the metro area as a whole has more problems than other parts of the state. We should be looking at both big and small issues and solutions at both the metro/state (and federal and world, but that's another story...) levels, as well as at the community level.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

The concerning points I took from this report were the incidence of high obesity, highest teen binge drinking rate in the metro area, increasing homicide numbers and decreasing high school graduation rates. Those are all issues that should be immediately addressed in those two counties.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Slig

The concerning points I took from this report were the incidence of high obesity, highest teen binge drinking rate in the metro area, increasing homicide numbers and decreasing high school graduation rates. Those are all issues that should be immediately addressed in those two counties.

Right, because the counties are just ignoring those issues.