Washington ranked 11th healthiest state — but obesity rate soaring

Washington is the 11th healthiest state in the nation, up from number 13 last year, according to a new report.

The report, America’s Health Rankings, has been published by the United Health Foundation for twenty years.

This year’s report was produced in partnership with the American Public Health Association and the advocacy group Partnership for Prevention.

The new report ranks Vermont as the healthiest state, followed in order by Utah, Massachusetts, Hawaii and New Hampshire.

At the bottom were South Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama, Oklahoma and, ranked last, Mississippi

Oregon was ranked 13th and Idaho, 14th.

The report looks at a wide range of factors to determine a state’s health ranking.

These include the traditional measures of health, such as infant mortality rates and deaths from heart disease and cancer, but also factors that have been shown to affect the health, such as smoking and obesity rates, educational attainment, and the amount violent crime and pollution there is in the community.

In general, such “health determinants” are good indicators of whether the health status of a state’s residents is likely to improve or grow worse.

Washington state’s strengths:

• Low prevalence of smoking: 15.7 percent. For comparison national rate is 18.3 percent and 9.3 percent in Utah, which was top in in this category.
• Low percentage of children living in poverty:13.2 percent, compared to a national rate of 19.0 percent. The rate in top-ranked New Hampshire was 8.6 percent.
• Low infant mortality rate: 4.9 deaths per 1,000 live births, compared to a national rate of 6.8 and 4.8 in top-ranked Utah.
• Low rate of hospitalizations that were preventable: 48.3 per 1,000 Medicare enrollees, compared to a national rate of 74.2 and 29.3 for top-ranked Hawaii.

Among the state’s weaknesses:

• Relatively percentage of high school students who graduate in four years: 72.9 percent, compared to 73.4  nationwide and 87.5 in top ranked Wisconsin.
• Significant disparities in health between different areas of the state: where Washington ranked 33rd in the nation with Delaware 1st.

Of particular concern, the report said, was the state’s soaring obesity rate, which has nearly tripled over the past 20 years, from just 9.4 percent in 1990 to 26.0 percent today.

Should the trend continue, the state’s obesity rate will top 35 percent by 2013 and nearly 42 percent by 2018, substantially adding to the state’s healthcare costs due to the attendant rise of such obesity-associated diseases as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

To learn more:

• Visit the America’s Health Rankings Web site where you can find the report as well as interactive charts that allow you to compare the ratings of different states by category and which has links to programs for improving your and your community’s health.
• Visit the Partnership for Prevention Web site.
• Visit the American Public Health Association Web site.

Tags: Prevention, Washington

Category: Health-care Policy, Nutrition, Prevention, Public Health