Health status report shows some improvement in state, but Merced lags

Diabetes and colorectal cancer are bigger problems in Merced County than in most other areas of the state, according to a new report on health status indicators released Monday by the California Department of Public Health.

Out of 58 counties, Merced placed 51st in deaths due to diabetes and cancer of the colon or rectum, with No. 58 being the lowest ranking.

According to the report, Merced also placed in the bottom half in deaths caused by chronic liver disease, motor vehicle crashes and homicides. In deaths caused by traffic crashes, Merced placed 49th out of 58, and in homicides it placed 48th.

However, the greatest numbers of deaths in Merced County are caused by all cancers and coronary heart disease, according to the data, which took the death average between 2011 and 2013. The three-year average shows there were about 354 deaths a year due to all cancers and about 246 deaths per year due to heart disease.

Based on 2012 data, the health indicators also show that about 35.5 percent of people under 18 in Merced County live in poverty. In rankings, Merced placed 55th, beating only Madera, Fresno and Tulare. The report shows 40.7 percent of youths in Tulare County live in poverty.

Merced County, however, placed in the upper half in deaths related to prostate cancer and suicide.

As a whole, California has shown improvement in reducing infant mortality, AIDS, cancers and coronary heart disease, the report said.

Statewide, the incidence of AIDS decreased, showing an improvement of nearly 28 percent. In county rankings, Merced County placed 25th out of the 58 in AIDS incidence.

Births to mothers ages 15 to 19 showed a decrease of 28 percent in the state. Other areas of improvements in the state include first-trimester prenatal care and breastfeeding initiation. In California, 79.2 percent of women receive adequate prenatal care by the fourth month of pregnancy, according to the report’s three-year average. In Merced County, this average drops to 60.4 percent.

“The stories told by these data are quite encouraging,” Dr. Karen Smith, CDPH director and state health officer, said in a news release, “but we must remember that not all communities have benefited equally from these improvements.

“Too many people in California still face chronic diseases related to factors such as poor diet, lack of physical activity and the use of tobacco,” she said.

Other chronic conditions, such as death rates for diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease and chronic liver disease failed to show improvement across the state, the report showed.

In 2013, the leading causes of death in the state were diseases of the heart, cancers, stroke, chronic lower respiratory diseases and Alzheimer’s disease. Renal disease, influenza and pneumonia also made the top 10 causes of death.

This story was originally published April 6, 2015 at 7:09 PM with the headline "Health status report shows some improvement in state, but Merced lags."