SURVEY: HEALTH HABITS A CONCERN IN COUNTY

High-income people drink more than low-income people, results show

Popular perception may hold that people in lower-income brackets drink more
than those with higher incomes.

But a survey on health habits recently completed by the Ottawa County
Health Department shows the opposite may be closer to the truth: the more
money people make the more often they drink.

"That finding is surprising," said county health officer Vito Palazzolo.

The findings on drinking were among the results of a 2004 behavioral risk
survey of county residents unveiled Thursday by health department
officials. Completed every five years, the 2004 survey was conducted by
Hope College's Frost Center for the county and contacted 2,217 households
in the county to ask questions about health habits.

On drinking, the survey found that younger respondents more frequently said
they had drank alcohol within the last six months than older respondents.
When responses were categorized by income level, the survey found 84.1
percent of respondents with incomes greater than $75,000 reported they
drank in the last six months, while 55.6 percent with incomes between
$20,000 to $34,999 reported the same.

And there were some troublesome findings for men in the survey as well.
Male respondents were more likely than females to say they do not eat five
or more fruits and vegetables per day, were more likely to be obese and
don't get enough exercise.

"This shows a connection," said Shannon Felgner, the health department's
spokeswoman.

With 48 percent of those contacted refusing to answer the survey, results
were collected from 800 individuals. That small number -- representing just
1 percent of the county's 80,000 households -- means the survey's results
must be used with caution, officials said.

"This cannot be projected onto the entire population," Felgner said.

"But it still gives us an indication of what's going on," Palazzolo said.

Other items revealed by the survey include:

* Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in Ottawa County, with
cancer second and stroke third.

* Strong correlations exist between education and some health issues. For
example, people whose highest level of education was high school were less
likely to have an HIV test than those with a college education.

Fewer Ottawa County residents report they smoke cigarettes than the state
average. But nearly 66 percent of the respondents said they drank in the
last six months while 2.3 percent said they smoked marijuana in the last
six months and less than 1 percent each reported use of cocaine,
methamphetamine or LSD.

"In Ottawa County, alcohol is still the issue," Palazzolo said.

Health department epidemiologist Uzo Chukwuma said the department is
working on a youth survey that will examine sexual activity, drug use and
violence among the county's young people.