New data from the Kentucky Youth Advocates Kentucky Kids Count Data Center shows Russell County has experienced some positive changes in local health over the last five years.
The most dramatic change was in teen births. From 2013-2015, Russell County had a rate of 60.1 teen births per 1,000 females. From 2018-2020, that dropped to 32.4 per 1,000 females. That number still ranks 68th of Kentucky’s 120 counties.
Russell County saw a decrease in the percentage of women smoking during pregnancy, from 30.2 percent in the years 2013-2015 to 25 percent in the years 2018-2020. That number is still amongst the worst in the state, ranking 85th of Kentucky’s 120 counties.
Russell County also saw a decrease in the number of low birthweight babies at 8 percent in 2018-2020 compared to 9.6 percent in 2013-2015.
Russell County saw an increase in the number of children under age 19 with health insurance, from 93.2 percent in 2015 to 94.4 percent in 2020.
