The numbers of deaths and births dropped slightly last year in Richland County from 2011.

That included decreases in the leading causes of death; heart disease, heart attacks, cancer, and lung disease.
The Mansfield-Ontario-Richland County Health Department has issued its annual death and birth report which says 1055 people died last year, with heart disease and attacks accounting for 39-percent.

Cancer killed 191 people, and lung disease caused 84 deaths.

Health Educator Reed Richmond says many people are avoiding early death by having healthier lifestyles, but more need to get the message.

Some of the drop in heart and cancer deaths can be attributed to Alzheimer's Disease, which surpassed strokes as the fourth leading cause of death.

Meanwhile, the number of births to unwed mothers keeps dropping, making-up 36% of the 1161 births, and single motherhood does not necessarily mean the child has only one involved parent.

Richmond says many women are in long-term, stable relationships but have not gotten married.

Teens accounted for a third of unwed births, and their numbers have stayed down for several years. 

The city of Shelby, which has its own health department, reports 168 births and 122 deaths last year, with similar trends for the most common causes of death.