Forsyth healthiest county in state; Hall 11th on list

A new report lists Forsyth County as the healthiest county in Georgia. Hall County is 11th on the list and Gwinnett, fourth.

The data was released Wednesday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Among other northeast Georgia counties, Lumpkin (12th), Habersham (16th), Dawson (18th and Union (20th) help round out the 20 healthiest counties. In fact, most counties in the region are ranked in the top 40. The ones that did not are: Hart, Banks, Jackson and Barrow, in the 41-80 grouping; Fannin, Franklin, Elbert and Rabun, the 81-119 group; and, Madison and Stephens, in the 120-159 grouping. Georgia has 159 counties.

According to the group's Website, "the Rankings are based on a model of population health that emphasizes the many factors that, if improved, can help make communities healthier places to live, learn, work and play. Building on the work of America's Health Rankings, the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute has used this model to rank the health of Wisconsin's counties every year since 2003."

Please click on the link below for more details on the information was gathered, what health factors are covered in the report, and to access a county-by-county breakdown.