Dallas County outpaces U.S. in key health measures
Dallas County is one of the healthiest counties in the state and ranks better than the average county in the U.S., according to an annual County Health Rankings report.
Why it matters: Health factors aren't just what's happening inside the doctor's office — social, economic and physical environment are also determinants, and in many of these, Dallas County is performing better than the rest of the country.
Driving the news: The 2025 report, published annually by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, looks at 30 different measures including birth weights, insurance rates, vaccination rates, mental health and levels of obesity.
State of play: Compared with the rest of the state, Dallas County residents are above average for high school completion and college education attainment.
They also have lower child poverty rates and fewer preventable hospital stays and severe housing problems.
Between the lines: Dallas County residents' physical health also fares better than the rest of the state's and country's averages, according to the report.
Much of the population is younger and less likely to face chronic illnesses, Abigail Coder, Dallas County's community health administrator, tells Axios.
The county is the fastest-growing in the state, with a median age of 36, compared with 39 years old statewide, according to census data.
Median household income is also higher — around $102,200, compared with $71,700 statewide, according to the report.
Two-thirds of the county's population live within West Des Moines, Waukee, Urbandale and Clive, where wealthier and younger populations are more likely to live.
Yes, but: Rural Dallas County residents are dealing with health challenges that are often overlooked.
Zoom in: 14% of Dallas County residents who identify as non-white or Hispanic don't have health insurance, compared with less than 10% of the county's white, non-Hispanic population, according to the county's 2023-25 health improvement plan.
Rural residents were more likely to report fair or poor mental health status.
Perry adults were also more likely to sleep less than seven hours a day.
69% of Dallas County adults were overweight or obese, and rural residents are more likely to have high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
The intrigue: The county health department is trying to address the inequalities by providing transportation services for rural residents to health care appointments and getting more specialists in Perry.
Zoom out: Neighboring Polk County is also performing better than average compared with other U.S. counties.
The bottom line: "We love that folks are doing really well here," Abigail Coder, Dallas County's community health administrator, tells Axios.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Gun deaths among children surge after states loosen firearm laws, new study finds
A new study published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics found that over 7,000 more children died from firearm-related injuries in the years following a 2010 Supreme Court decision that gave states greater power to set their own gun laws. Most of those deaths occurred in states that opted to make it easier to purchase and carry firearms. The study, led by Dr. Jeremy Faust, an emergency medicine doctor with Mass General Brigham, found a sharp increase in gun-related deaths among children and teens ages 0 to 17 beginning in 2011, following the 2010 McDonald v. Chicago decision, which ruled that the Second Amendment's right to bear arms was applicable to all states and municipalities and ultimately overturned municipal handgun bans like the one previously enforced in Chicago. Over the 12-year post-decision period, researchers estimate more than 6,000 excess deaths occurred in states with the most permissive gun laws. Another 1,400 excess deaths occurred in states that made their laws more permissive but were not in the most extreme group. Meanwhile, four states -- California, New York, Maryland, and Rhode Island, all of which had strict laws -- saw significant drops in pediatric gun deaths. Parkland school shooting 7 years later: Remembering the 17 victims "States that made it easier to obtain and carry a firearm had a tradeoff for that, which was a higher rate of mortality in kids," Faust said. Researchers analyzed more than two decades of data, comparing trends in gun-related deaths before and after the legal shift. They adjusted for background trends and compared gun deaths to other causes like motor vehicle accidents, overdoses, and cancer. The increase in deaths was not part of a broader rise in youth mortality -- it was specific to firearms. This wasn't just about overall violence going up, Faust told ABC News. The change in gun deaths was far greater than any other trend the study looked at, including deaths involving motor vehicle accidents, overdose and even cancer, he said. Firearms are now the leading cause of death in children and teens in the United States, a distinction not seen in other developed countries. During the 25-year study period, guns were involved in 4% of all pediatric deaths, outpacing motor vehicle crashes and cancer. The study also found that the increases in firearm deaths were not confined to a single demographic or region. Rates rose in both urban and rural areas, and among all racial and ethnic groups studied. However, non-Hispanic Black children and teens were disproportionately affected in states that had loosened gun laws. Most of the pediatric gun deaths were not accidental. They were homicides and suicides, deaths that might have been prevented with safer policies or better storage laws, according to the study. In fact, researchers noted that unintentional shootings made up a small share of overall deaths. HHS appears to delete Surgeon General gun violence advisory webpage Faust acknowledged that there is no one-size-fits-all solution, and that each state may need tailored approaches to address gun violence. He called for continued research and collaboration with policymakers to determine which gun safety laws save the most lives and emphasized the importance of evidence-based policymaking, comparing gun laws to the nationwide mandates for child car seats. "You can't leave the hospital with a newborn unless you have the right car seat in all 50 states," he noted. "That's because vehicle collisions up until a few years ago were the leading cause of mortality outside of infancy." Dr. Ilan Kokotek is a board-certified family physician completing training in preventive medicine at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and is a member of the ABC News Medical Unit. Gun deaths among children surge after states loosen firearm laws, new study finds originally appeared on
29 minutes ago
Gun deaths among children surge after states loosen firearm laws, new study finds
A new study published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics found that over 7,000 more children died from firearm-related injuries in the years following a 2010 Supreme Court decision that gave states greater power to set their own gun laws. Most of those deaths occurred in states that opted to make it easier to purchase and carry firearms. The study, led by Dr. Jeremy Faust, an emergency medicine doctor with Mass General Brigham, found a sharp increase in gun-related deaths among children and teens ages 0 to 17 beginning in 2011, following the 2010 McDonald v. Chicago decision, which ruled that the Second Amendment's right to bear arms was applicable to all states and municipalities and ultimately overturned municipal handgun bans like the one previously enforced in Chicago. Over the 12-year post-decision period, researchers estimate more than 6,000 excess deaths occurred in states with the most permissive gun laws. Another 1,400 excess deaths occurred in states that made their laws more permissive but were not in the most extreme group. Meanwhile, four states -- California, New York, Maryland, and Rhode Island, all of which had strict laws -- saw significant drops in pediatric gun deaths. "States that made it easier to obtain and carry a firearm had a tradeoff for that, which was a higher rate of mortality in kids," Faust said. Researchers analyzed more than two decades of data, comparing trends in gun-related deaths before and after the legal shift. They adjusted for background trends and compared gun deaths to other causes like motor vehicle accidents, overdoses, and cancer. The increase in deaths was not part of a broader rise in youth mortality -- it was specific to firearms. This wasn't just about overall violence going up, Faust told ABC News. The change in gun deaths was far greater than any other trend the study looked at, including deaths involving motor vehicle accidents, overdose and even cancer, he said. Firearms are now the leading cause of death in children and teens in the United States, a distinction not seen in other developed countries. During the 25-year study period, guns were involved in 4% of all pediatric deaths, outpacing motor vehicle crashes and cancer. The study also found that the increases in firearm deaths were not confined to a single demographic or region. Rates rose in both urban and rural areas, and among all racial and ethnic groups studied. However, non-Hispanic Black children and teens were disproportionately affected in states that had loosened gun laws. Most of the pediatric gun deaths were not accidental. They were homicides and suicides, deaths that might have been prevented with safer policies or better storage laws, according to the study. In fact, researchers noted that unintentional shootings made up a small share of overall deaths. Faust acknowledged that there is no one-size-fits-all solution, and that each state may need tailored approaches to address gun violence. He called for continued research and collaboration with policymakers to determine which gun safety laws save the most lives and emphasized the importance of evidence-based policymaking, comparing gun laws to the nationwide mandates for child car seats. "You can't leave the hospital with a newborn unless you have the right car seat in all 50 states," he noted. "That's because vehicle collisions up until a few years ago were the leading cause of mortality outside of infancy."
Axios
3 hours ago
- Axios
Cancer research foundation to start seeding startups
Andy Rachleff is funding startups again, more than two decades after stepping down as a founding partner of legendary venture capital firm Benchmark. Why it matters: His new mission is curing cancers instead of generating profits for limited partners. Driving the news: Rachleff tells Axios that he's spearheading a new investment program for the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, where he chairs the board. It's called InVEST and will automatically provide $50,000 equity checks to any Damon Runyon-sponsored scientists who secure at least $500,000 in seed funding for their startups. For the scientists, it's a way to prove to venture firms that they're "fundable." For Damon Runyan, it's a way to create a philanthropic flywheel — as its alumni have founded such companies as Moderna, Juno Therapeutics, Beam Therapeutics, and Arbor Biotechnologies. Zoom in: Damon Runyan focuses exclusively on young scientists, or at least scientists who are relatively early in their careers. Rachleff and CEO Yung Lie argue that most major scientific breakthroughs come from this cohort, but that most funding goes to older colleagues. "The average age where people get their first individual NIH grant is over 40, but the average age of a Nobel Laureate in medicine is just 36 at the time they conceive of their breakthrough," Rachelff explains. By the numbers: Damon Runyan backs around 70 new scientists per year, has 1,400 alumni, and spins out between 10 and 20 startups per year. It had initially considered creating some sort of investment program whereby the startups would pay royalties but decided that could impede growth. All investments will come from the foundation's endowment.
