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LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County residents are less healthy than other people in California and the rest of the country, a survey released Thursday concludes. 

The telephone survey of 8,400 Angelenos by the county’s Department of Health Services found that residents report an average of 6.4 days a month of poor health, including 2.4 days in which sickness affects their work and recreation. 

That’s 8.5 percent higher than the statewide average of 5.9 days a month, and 16.4 percent higher than the national average of 5.5 days a month of poor health. 

Dr. Michael Hirt, internist and medical director of the Center for Integrative Medicine at Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center, said he isn’t surprised by the results in a county full of long commutes, unhealthy air and drive-through dinners. 

“Despite the fact that we’re the nation’s fruit and veggie basket, we don’t eat enough vegetables here,” Hirt said.  

“We don’t exercise as much here as other parts of the country, we’re stressed out – and you combine those things together and it starts to wear away at people’s good health.” 

The survey found a strong connection between income and health. More than nine of 10 people making more than three times the poverty level said they believed their health was good to excellent; only 62 percent of people living below the poverty level agreed with that statement. 

In addition, people with more education reported being healthier than those with less, said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, director of public health and county health officer.  

He said the links between health, poverty and education show that improving public health education and socioeconomic conditions are essential. 

The survey is part of an effort by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta to gauge the health of Americans, said Dr. Paul Simon, the report’s author and a health department epidemiologist. 

“We’re the first county that’s done it in the country with these measures. This is sort of new territory,” Simon said. 

He said no other cities or counties have comparable data yet, but added that state health officials are conducting similar surveys with researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles.