By Cheril Lee
Omaha, NE – Cedar County is the healthiest in the state of Nebraska, according to a new report on County Health Rankings.
The County Health Rankings were released by the University of Wisconsin's Population Health Institute. This is the first time the study has been done on a national level, according to Julie Willems Van Dijk, an associate scientist at the Unversity of Wisconsin. She says the study incorporated 28 different measures of health information. Five measures looked at health outcome, people dying too early and quality of life while people are living. The report also measured 23 health factors focused in four different areas: health behaviors, social and economic factors, clinical care and the physical environment.
Douglas County ranks 56 out of Nebraska's 93 counties in the report. Rounding out the top five healthiest Nebraska counties were Wayne, Pierce, Phelps and Seward counties.
Nebraska's complete County Health Rankings report is available online at www.countyhealthrankings.org/nebraska.