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CHRISTIE WILSON/CWILSON@STARADVERTISER.COM
The storm swell on Maui attracted bodyboarders Joshua Romero, 30, Jacob Romero, 27, Cordon Stapp, 14 and Ryan Fuller, 27, who were headed to the Churches surf spot in Waiehu.
Maui County is the healthiest region in the state, beating out Honolulu for the first time in five years, a new study shows.
The state-by-state County Health Rankings released Wednesday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute compares counties based on 30 factors that influence health including education, housing, violent crime, jobs, diet and exercise. The report also looks at distribution in income and the links between income levels and health.
The 2015 rankings show that the counties, starting with most healthy, are Maui, followed by Honolulu, Kauai and Hawaii. Up until this year, Honolulu had been ranked healthiest region overall since 2010.
Nationally, the rankings show that the healthiest counties have higher college attendance, fewer preventable hospital stays and better access to parks and gyms.
The least healthy counties have more smokers, more teen births and more alcohol-related car crash deaths.
