24
THE HEALTH OF COUNTY RESIDENTS
MONTGOMERY
COUNTY TOTAL
Diseases of the heart
4,927
Cancer
5,055
Stroke
1,319
Accidents
928
Alzheimer’s Disease
584
Diabetes Mellitus
401
Influenza
404
MONTGOMERY
COUNTY RATE
149.7
168.3
40.3
33.9
16.6
13.1
12.2
PENNSYLVANIA
TOTAL
94,973
86,126
20,166
17,110
10,572
9,828
7,547
PENNSYLVANIA
RATE
186.6
180.0
39.3
40.8
19.3
20.2
14.7
FIGURE 23:
Selected Major Causes of Death, Number and Average Annual Death Rate: 2009-2011
(per 100,000 residents, based on annual sample surveys)
Local air quality and water issues also impact our county’s
health. Air pollution consists of six constituent pollutants—
carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, particulate
matter, and sulfur dioxide—and these pollutants can cause
harm to the environment as well as serious health problems.
Chronic ailments like asthma are tied to poor air quality.
Nearly 4% of Montgomery County’s students had a
diagnosis of asthma in the 2008-2009 school year. And
although these pollutants come from a variety of sources,
vehicle exhaust has been tied to many of them.
Another concern is mosquitoes and the diseases they harbor,
which may be aided by the design of our environment if it
inadvertently creates pooling areas of water.
Poor access to healthy food and good nutrition remains an
issue for some county residents. This is a topic that is
explored in more depth in the Food Distribution and Access
section of this chapter. However, although there are dozens
of grocery stores and farmers markets in the county, many
local food stores have closed over the last few years and
farmers markets may be inconvenient or financially out of
reach for some lower-income residents. Food access
strategies that have made inroads in more urban areas like
Philadelphia (such as community gardens or urban farms)
are not as prevalent in Montgomery County. It is easier in
some parts of the county to purchase food at corner stores,
but these are places that primarily sell shelf-stable and low
nutrition items. Without reliable transportation and a
convenient store nearby, having good nutrition may be a
challenge for our most vulnerable residents.
Our health—the decisions made collectively on a county
level as well as the individual choices made by the county’s
800,000-plus residents every day—is intrinsically tied to the
built environment around us. Although our land use
decisions are but one of the things that affect health
outcomes, it is something that could and will change over
time. For starters, the design of our built environment—
homes, neighborhoods, workplaces, and transportation
networks—has a direct affect on people’s ability to
incorporate physical activity in their daily lives. Research
in the American Journal of Health Promotion has shown that
people in sprawling counties are likely to have higher rates
of being overweight or obese, as well as a greater
A healthy, active lifestyle is important for people of all ages.
Source: Pennsylvania Department of Health
