State figures show a decrease in inactivity from 20 to 18.1 percent with the highest rates of inactivity being in people who didn’t finish high school, seniors and those earning under $25,000 a year.
Advertisement
Preventable hospitalizations declined 8 percent, from 62.9 to 57.6 discharges per 1,000 Medicare beneficiaries.
“For Minnesota, those challenges are high prevalence of excessive drinking, low immunizations among adolescent males for HPV and a low per-capita public health funding”, she said.
In the latest ranking of the “Health of America”, Kansas showed up right at the middle of the pack.
In a different set of health rankings, Kentucky was among the states that saw the greatest improvements over time, USA Today reported this week.
But that doesn’t mean that the nation’s long-term health is improving: While deaths from cardiovascular-related causes have continued to decline over the last decade, obesity, diabetes, drug deaths, and “premature deaths” (people who die before age 75) all rose in the a year ago, according to the data. However, this state still has a high prevalence of smoking and low immunization coverage among children.
Hawaii was named the country’s healthiest state.
Among the 11 lowest-ranked states, Georgia and six others have not used the Affordable Care Act to expand eligibility for Medicaid, the state/federal health plan for low-income people.
“This report is a call to action to make disease prevention a key component of our culture”, Tuckson said in a news release. “We look forward to using this year’s report to continue identifying best practices that address Florida’s most pressing health challenges and encourage our residents to lead the healthiest lives possible”.
Washington State moved up four slots from 2014, ranking as the ninth-healthiest state nationwide, with Hawaii topping the list, and Louisiana coming in last. Alaskans, crazily enough, are most likely to experience violent crime, as a percentage of their population. Rounding out the five most unhealthy states are Arkansas, West Virginia, and Alabama.
To see the national and state rankings in detail, visit www.americashealthrankings.org. The yearly review is developed and annually reviewed and overseen by a Scientific Advisory Committee of leading public health scholars, according to Gail Rayos, spokeswoman for the United Health Foundation.
Advertisement
Their data comes from trusted sources from national institutions like American Medical Association, Centers for Control and Prevention of Disease and even from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. To date, United Health Foundation has committed more than $285 million to programs and communities around the world.
