Report: Fairfax is Virginia's healthiest area

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A new report says counties and municipalities in northern Virginia tend to be healthier than their counterparts in the southern part of the state.

The report was released Wednesday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin researchers. It ranks counties by several health factors and other areas such as education, access to health care, and unemployment.

The report declared Fairfax County the healthiest area overall, followed by Loudoun, Arlington, Albemarle and York.

At the bottom of the list is the city of Petersburg, whose rate of premature death was more than double the state average. It also was last in behaviors such as adult smoking and obesity and physical inactivity, and worst in social and economic factors such as education, unemployment and poverty.