East Carroll Parish named unhealthiest place to live along with five other Delta parishes

Six Northeast Louisiana parishes along the Delta are deemed the unhealthiest in the state.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute released their annual report of the top 10 unhealthiest parishes.

East Carroll Parish ranked the worst, followed closely by Morehouse, Madison, Catahoula, Tensas, & Concordia Parishes. (View the complete list at the bottom of this page.)

KNOE traveled to Tensas Parish since it made number five out of the top 10. Elvadus Fields Jr. is the mayor of St. Joseph, the parish seat.

He says he is not surprised with the study due to the agriculture and water issues in the area.

"Along this Delta area is your most agriculture crop production," Fields said. "We're flying a lot of the herbicides, insecticides, and stuff on the crops."

The study results were released on Wednesday. It shows how water, education, and air quality plays a role in the ranking.

The mayor says rural communities are not alone though.

"Even in the cities, we're bothered with smog and all of these things that are not healthy," Fields said.

The study also says high housing costs can make it tougher for families to get better quality food, transportation, and medicine. Most of the six parishes do not have a hospital, only small health units.

"I just don't believe there is very much we can do," Fields said.

Tensas Parish has a population of more than 4600 people. 33% are living in fair or poor conditions.

East Carroll Parish has a population of 7,126 and has a Length-Of-Life ranking of 58 out 64 parishes.

Morehouse Parish has a population of 25,641 and Length-Of-Life ranking of 63 out 64 parishes.

Madison Parish has a population of 11,316 Length-Of-Life ranking of 58 out 57 parishes.

Catahoula Parish has a population of 9,875 Length-Of-Life ranking of 64 out 64 parishes.

Concordia Parish has a population of 19,866 and Length-Of-Life ranking of 58 out 54 parishes.

Length-Of-Life rankings are done with 64 being the worst.

Here is the list of parishes from healthiest to unhealthiest:

1 - Cameron (CM)

2 - Ascension (AS)

3 - St. Tammany (SY)

4 - Lafayette (LA)

5 - Plaquemines (PL)

6 - St. Charles (SC)

7 - Bossier (BO)

8 - Vernon (VN)

9 - Lafourche (LF)

10 - Jefferson (JE)

11 - Grant (GR)

12 - Livingston (LV)

13 - Vermilion (VE)

14 - West Feliciana (WF)

15 - Lincoln (LI)

16 - Allen (AL)

17 - La Salle (LS)

18 - East Feliciana (EF)

19 - Assumption (AU)

20 - Terrebonne (TR)

21 - Calcasieu (CL)

22 - St. Martin (SM)

23 - West Baton Rouge (WB)

24 - Union (UN)

25 - Jackson (JA)

26 - East Baton Rouge (EB)

27 - Beauregard (BE)

28 - St. James (SJ)

29 - St. John the Baptist (ST)

30 - Sabine (SA)

31 - Acadia (AC)

32 - St. Mary (SR)

33 - Iberia (IB)

34 - Iberville (IE)

35 - Tangipahoa (TA)

36 - Orleans (OR)

37 - Jefferson Davis (JD)

38 - Ouachita (OU)

39 - Pointe Coupee (PC)

40 - St. Bernard (SB)

41 - Rapides (RA)

42 - De Soto (DS)

43 - West Carroll (WC)

44 - Caldwell (CD)

45 - Caddo (CA)

46 - Avoyelles (AV)

47 - Bienville (BI)

48 - Evangeline (EV)

49 - Richland (RI)

50 - Winn (WI)

51 - Natchitoches (NA)

52 - Webster (WE)

53 - Franklin (FR)

54 - Claiborne (CB)

55 - Red River (RE)

56 - Concordia (CO)

57 - St. Landry (SL)

58 - Washington (WA)

59 - Tensas (TE)

60 - St. Helena (SH)

61 - Catahoula (CT)

62 - Madison (MA)

63 - Morehouse (MO)

64 - East Carroll (EC)