It comes as no surprise to Forsyth residents that our county has been named Georgia’s healthiest for the third year in a row. The evidence is undeniable; our exceeding number of walking trails, organic grocery stores, top-notch healthcare facilities, and supportive education programs bump us up the line.

Georgia’s County Health Rankings take statistics of graduation rates, percentage of obese population, housing, percentage of smoking population, unemployment rates, crime, quality of air and water, average income, and number of teen births into account, all for which Forsyth seems to set the standard.

However, Forsyth residents are not the only ones noticing the healthy changes. From 1990 to 2012, Forsyth County experienced a 330.46% population increase, surmounting the average of Georgia by over 270%.  As pushes for outdoor activity and healthier choices are becoming progressively obvious, more and more citizens are moving into our metro Atlanta community. Even with the rapid increase, our school systems are accommodating excellently and continue to push a higher percentage of students through high school than Georgia or the United States overall.

Forsyth not only supports higher education, but also takes the physical health of its citizens into consideration. Sawnee Mountain Preserve hiking and the constantly expanding Big Creek Greenway are only two examples of the 21 public parks spread across the county, collectively offering several youth and adult league recreational sports. Cumming’s Aquatic Center, a more recent addition to our community, also proves to be a new adventure for those in Forsyth seeking indoor and outdoor exercise. Complementing our encouragement of activity, Forsyth has become home to more organic grocery stores over the past decade, including Cumming’s own Sprouts, delivering a fresh vibe and healthier eating choices.

Followed closely on Georgia’s County Health Rankings by Gwinnett, Fayette and Cobb, Georgia has seen major improvement of overall health in its metro Atlanta area. We can only hope that this newfound love for a healthier lifestyle continues to grow and reach more suburban, impoverished areas.

Warren, Taliaferro and Early County take up the bottom three positions in Georgia, coming in with substantially lower access to exercise facilities and more inactivity than the average of Georgia. The percentage of high school graduates is startlingly low and only 44% continue on to college education. With these sort of economically rough parts of Georgia, Forsyth only shines in comparison, and I hope that our changes inspire those in need.