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Unhealthiest States for 2008

The 2008 round up featuring the healthiest and unhealthiest states in the nation, has been posted online and is available for public view. 2008 health rankings, for determining how healthy / unhealthy a state is, feature components such as air pollution, prevalence of smoking, occupational fatalities, infectious disease, binge drinking, and many more. Where it is your state ranking on the list of unhealthy US states?

By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

The 2008 round up featuring the healthiest and unhealthiest states in the nation, has been posted online and is available for public view. 2008 health rankings, for determining how healthy / unhealthy a state is, feature components such as air pollution, prevalence of smoking, occupational fatalities, infectious disease, binge drinking, and many more. Where it is your state ranking on the list of unhealthy US states?

The national report of America’s Health Findings is published yearly and is provided by the United Health Foundation. Below is a screenshot showing a color graded map of the United States, with healthiest states in shades of lighter gray, and unhealthy states in shades of darker blue. The map on the health rankings web site is interactive, be sure to check it out.

healthy versus unhealthy states in the US 2008

Looking at the map, it’s fairly easy to see which states appear as the most unhealthy. Those that stand out in shades of darker blue include Nevada (rank 42), Texas (rank 46), Louisiana (rank 50), Florida (rank 45), Tennessee (rank 47), Mississippi (rank 49), and South Carolina (rank 48). A few states stand out in shades of lighter gray, those states scored as healthiest in the nation. Utah ranks number 5, while neighboring state Idaho ranks number eight. Minnesota ranks number 4, and the state of Vermont ranks number one. According to the findings by the United Health Foundation (UHF), among Vermont strengths are a low percentage of children in poverty, a low prevalence of obesity, a high rate of high school graduation, high immunization coverage, and a low premature death rate. One of the states challenges, according to the study, is Vermont’s high prevalence of binge drinking.

Several states on the northern East Coast ranked quite well in the study. Those states include Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, and even New Jersey (rank 18). The West Coast didn’t fare as well, with California ranking at number 24 (about the same as the state did in 2007), Arizona ranking at 33, and Nevada ranking at a low 42.

According to the ranking report, there are four primary considerations behind the design for health measurement. The overall rankings had to represent a broad range of issues that affected a population’s health; the individual measures needed to use common health measurement criteria; data had to be available at a state level; and the data had to be current and updated periodically.

What was measured?
In the category of Personal Behaviors the study measured prevalence of smoking, prevalence of binge drinking, and prevalence of obesity. In the category of Community & Environment the study measured high school graduation, violent crime, occupational fatalities, infectious disease, children in poverty, and air pollution. In the category of Public & Health Policies the study collected data on lack of health insurance, public health funding, and immunization coverage. In the area of Clinical Care, the study looked at adequacy of prenatal care, primary care physicians, and preventable hospitalizations. In the Outcomes category, the UHF study looked at poor mental-health days, poor physical health days, geographic disparity, infant mortality, cardiovascular deaths, cancer deaths, and premature deaths. You can view a complete summary of the description of measures here.

I find the study fascinating and suggest everyone in the United States at least check the statistics on the state they live in. I believe that all health care professionals can benefit from utilizing this data in educating their communities about what we can be doing individually to be healthier collectively. For example, Local Chiropractors could download the PDF file for their state, and address the strengths and challenges with their patients, and the family members of those patients.

It is a great time of year for chiropractors and other health-care professionals to begin planning 2009 health related goals, not only for ourselves, but for the communities we collectively serve.

planetc1.com-news @ 12:46 pm | Article ID: 1228423635

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