Rockdale County is fairly healthy compared to other counties in the state, but it still lags in factors such as air pollution, teen birth rate, adult obesity, and excessive drinking compared to national standards. 

According to the County Health Rankings released by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Rockdale County was 16th in health outcomes out of 156 counties, but 31st in health factors. Newton County ranked 45th  in health outcomes, but 85th in health factors.

In Rockdale County, adult smoking levels (15 percent) are better than the state (20 percent) and on par with the national rate, but slightly more adults are obese in Rockdale (30 percent) compared to the state (28 percent) and the nation (25 percent). Adults report excessive drinking (15 percent) slightly more than the state average (14 percent) and the national average (8 percent).

The rate of sexually transmitted disesase (393 cases of Chlamydia per 100,000 cases) is lower than the state (447) but higher than the national average (83). The teen birth rate (46 per 1,000 females ages 15-19) is lower than the state (55) but higher than the national average (22).

Rockdale does excel in providing access to fresh foods to its residents (100 percent, compared to 65 percent statewide and 95 percent nationally). More women in Rockdale also are checked out with mammograms (72 percent) than the state average (62 percent) but slightly less than the national average (74 percent).

The rate of air pollution (22 air pollution-ozone days per year, compared to 12 in the state and none nationally) is also reflective of being near a major metropolitan city.

Fayette County was the healthiest in Georgia, placing first in each overall category, while Calhoun County was last in health outcomes and Hancock County was last in health factors. Three small counties were not ranked.
The rankings are based on factors that effect health, including education, access to healthier food, behavior, income, teen births, pollution and income. The rankings can be seen at http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/.

"The Rankings really show us with solid data that there is a lot more to health than health care. Where we live, learn, work and play affect our health, and we need to use the information from the Rankings to shine a spotlight on where we need to improve so we can take action to address our problems," according to a press release statement ffrom Dr. Patrick Remington, director of the County Health Rankings project and associate dean for Public Health at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

Overall health was rated on the rate of people dying before age 75; the percentage of people who reported being in fair or poor health; the number of days in poor mental health; and the rate of low-birthweight infants. Researchers then looked at factors that affect people's health within four categories: health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and physical environment.