Survey leaves unanswered questions

Is Jay County the unhealthiest county in Indiana?
Nope.
According to a national study that ranks every county in the United States, that title goes to Scott County.
But our report card isn’t anything to write home about.
The study in itself deserves to be taken with a grain of salt. Any time you’re sifting through national data and attempting to apply it locally, things get a little dicey.
And there are some of the benchmarks that could cause some head scratching.
For instance, Jay County gets a 50 percent mark on access to healthy foods. 
Given the number of farmers’ markets that have sprung up and the community garden established last year, that figure looks dubious, especially when you learn Adams County, somehow, ranks a 100 percent score on the same item. Go figure.
Some of the numbers make you wonder where the raw data came from. According to the study there are 9 recreational facilities available to every 100,000 people in Jay County, while in Adams County the number is 18 and in Randolph County it’s 12.
At nine per 100,000, Jay County would have only 2-3 recreational opportunities for its current population. 
Starting with the Jay Community Center, West Jay Community Center, auxiliary gym, municipal pools in Portland and Dunkirk, family access to the pool at Jay County High School, dozens of parks and ball diamonds, and numerous hiking trails, the actual total is dramatically higher.
But having said that, there’s no question the county ought to be healthier. 
In areas like mammography screening, teen birth rates, low birth weights, and children living in poverty, the numbers show room for improvement.
That’s one reason last year’s 20-20 Vision process focused on improved community health as a key goal for the future.
We know we’re not as healthy — as a community — as we ought to be, but we’re working on it.
Just for the record, Jay ranked 83rd among Indiana counties, nothing to brag about. — J.R.