The 15-county Northwest Georgia region ranks No. 1 in the state for food insecurity among senior citizens.

“And of those counties, we have five that rank in the top 10 counties,” said Lynne Reeves, director of the Area Agency on Aging. “That’s shocking to me. It’s hard to see those rankings.”

Being food secure, Reeves said, means a person has access to enough affordable and nutritious food to stay healthy.

Floyd County ranks fourth in the state for insecurity and Bartow County is fifth. Also in the region are Murray at second place, Whitfield at third and Pickens at seventh, out of the state’s 159 counties.

The rankings come from the state’s Division on Aging Services’ database, drawn from surveys used as a screening and prioritization tool whenever people ask their regional AAA for help.