LASALLE – LaSalle County has the highest percentage of smokers and women who smoke during pregnancy, according to recent data. The Illinois Public Health Community Map shows LaSalle County exceeds the statewide and neighboring county averages of adults 18 and over who currently smoke at nearly 17%. The statewide average comes in at nearly 16% while Bureau and Putnam fall around 15%. LaSalle is also takes the lead in highest percentage of live births where the mother smoked during pregnancy at 19% , exceeding the statewide average of 15.8%. Bureau County doesn’t fall too far from LaSalle at 18.7 % while Putnam is at 16.6%. All together, the tri-county average is 8.5 times highers that the states average of 6.4%.
