Shasta County ranks 50th in health study [Redding Record Searchlight]

For another year, Shasta County ranked low in a health study, coming in 50th out of 57 California counties. Its rates of obesity, violent crime, smoking and child poverty drove down its scores in the County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, a national study operated by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and PHI at the University of Wisconsin. County public health officials say they're not surprised by the continued low scores, adding that it takes time to reverse health trends. "It doesn't change a lot year by year," Brandy Isola, deputy branch director of the Public Health Department at the Shasta County Health and Human Services Agency, said about the study, now in its seventh year. "With public health, it doesn't change overnight." more