Loma Linda McDonald's Opponents' Fight Backed by County Health Survey

Months after Loma Linda residents and health care providers rallied against a proposed McDonalds in the city, some of their concerns were confirmed in a national survey.

An annual study by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that San Bernardino County was ranked 41st out of 56 California counties. Two counties were too small to be ranked.

The survey, which can be searched here, focused on factors outside the doctor's office, including education rates, income levels and access to healthy food.

One of the factors considered was the number of fast food restaurants. A whopping 1,342 eateries -- 60 percent of the total number of restaurants in the county -- are fast food stores. In comparison, Riverside County had 1,296 fast food restaurants, accounting for 55 percent of its eateries. Statewide, 49 percent of all eateries were designated fast food restaurants.

Members of Loma Linda's health community argued this point to the City Council and planning commission as they fought to keep the McDonald's out of the city. San Bernardino has rated poorly in past studies because of the lack of access to healthy foods, some warned.

“Loma Linda should be about making the healthy choice not the easy choice,” Juan Carlos Belliard, assistant professor of environmental and occupational health with Loma Linda University, said when the Loma Linda City Council with the proposed McDonalds. “When you’re in a hurry, and it’s happened to me over lunchtime, and you only have a minutes to grab a bite to eat, you’re going to go for the easiest thing and that’s not always the healthiest.”

The rankings were started in 2010, and are based on the latest publicly-available data for each county, according to a news release.

The survey broke down rankings in categories including mortality, morbidity, health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors and physical environment.

In many of the categories, the county ranked at or below the statewide numbers. For example, according to the survey, 22 percent of all residents in the county are uninsured, compared to 20 percent statewide.

The county ranked 50th of the 56 counties in the clinical care category, in part due to the high number of uninsured. It also found that there are 1,669 primary care physicians in the county, leading to a ratio of 1,201 patients to every doctor. The statewide total is 847 to 1.

The foundation behind the survey also launched a new feature this year, offering road maps for counties to use to improve their overall health. They also are accepting applications for the "Roadmap to Health" contest, which is offering up to six counties prizes of $25,000 for making improvements.

They also launched a County Health Calculator, an interactive tool that shows how much education and income influence diabetes rates.