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How healthy, wealthy is Alamance County? Here are the numbers. - News - The Times-News - Burlington, NC <br />https://www.thetimesnews.com/news/20190721/how-healthy-wealthy-is-alamance-county-here-are-numbers[8/19/2019 10:57:33 AM] <br />Though minority infant mortality rates have fallen by 50 percent since 1999, it was still high, at 13.4 deaths per 1,000 births among black women. <br />Sixteen out of 1,000 births in 2012 to 2016 were to 15-to-17-year-old girls, though it was closer to 24 per 1,000 among African American and Hispanic <br />girls, while white girls were closer to 12. Those numbers are higher than the state and national averages. <br />Causes of death: <br />1,609 people died locally in 2017. <br />20 percent died from heart disease, also the leading reason for hospitalization. <br />19 percent from cancer. <br />40 percent of cancers diagnosed were related to obesity. <br />28 percent were forms of lung cancer. <br />Diabetes became the seventh leading cause of death in Alamance and statewide in 2007. <br />Sexually transmitted infections reported in 2017: <br />905 chlamydia cases; <br />273 gonorrhea cases; <br />22 HIV cases; and <br />22 syphilis cases. <br />Free screenings are available: <br />Alamance Cares – 3025 S. Church St., Burlington <br />Open Door Clinic of Alamance County – 319 N. Graham-Hopedale Road, Burlington <br />Opioid crisis <br />49 opioid deaths were reported in Alamance County between 2013 and 2016 <br />19 were reported in 2017 <br />369 doses of naloxone countering opioid overdose were administered by Alamance County EMS in 2017. <br />Quality of life <br />3.8 – days per month the average Alamance County resident experiences poor health, which is higher than the state rate of 3.6 days and an indication of <br />worsening quality of life in Alamance County with the county’s rank going from 47th out of 100 counties for poor health affecting quality of life in 2015 to <br />63rd last year. <br />44 percent of adults had permanent teeth removed due to gum infection as of 2016. Dental problems have a huge impact on general health, while dental care <br />is expensive and often neglected. <br />Exercise makes a big difference in obesity and heart health. <br />Eighty-six percent of people lived near a park with things like trails and other ways to exercise last year compared to a little more than 77 percent in 2014, <br />which is better than the state average. <br />About $4 million has been spent on those facilities since 2015. Much of that came from Impact Alamance grants, and the school system made its tracks and <br />fields available for the public, municipalities built more sidewalks and bike lanes, and the county opened about 20 miles of hiking trails with more planned. <br />Food <br />Seven percent of Alamance County residents in 2018 didn’t have easy access to nutritious, fresh food either because they lived too far from a grocery store <br />and didn’t have reliable transportation, or simply didn’t have enough steady income. That percentage is higher than the state’s and has grown from a little <br />more than 6 percent in 2015. <br />Fifty-seven percent of respondents to the Elon Poll said they lived more than a mile from a place to get fresh produce. <br />Food swamps — areas with four or more unhealthy options, like fast food and snacks rather than healthy options in grocery stores, is a local problem. One <br />option the report suggests is limiting the number of fast-food restaurants allowed in a particular area with zoning ordinances.