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Study Names Rockingham As One Of The State's Unhealthiest Counties

A new report points to Rockingham County as one of the unhealthiest places to live in North Carolina. And it's not the first time the county has earned this dubious distinction.

The national study ranks Rockingham 81st out of the state's 100 counties.

The survey gives the county low marks in premature deaths, obesity, smoking and physical activity.

The News And Record of Greensboro reports Rockingham came in 83rd in last year's study. That news prompted the county to implement a handful of initiatives to get residents in better shape. There was some progress, as the study shows violent crime down when compared with the rest of the state.

Guilford County ranks 10th overall in this year's report, which is conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin.

Wake and Watauga were also among the state's 10 healthiest counties.

 

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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