Arizona rates as 28th-healthiest state
Dec 12, 2013, 11:21 AM | Updated: 11:23 am
PHOENIX — Arizona has been rated No. 28 in the country for overall health, according to an annual assessment.
America’s Health Rankings released its findings this week. Hawaii was the healthiest state.
Factors included spending on public health, crime rates, infant mortality, and air pollution.
The report noted that for the first time in many years, the country’s obesity rate didn’t climb. In Arizona, more than a million adults are physically inactive and nearly 1.4 million are obese.
Arizona ranked 10th in smoking, “very good,” said Dr. Reed Tuckson, former chief of medical affairs for UnitedHealth. The state is 16th in obesity and 35th in diabetes. Other notations about the state in the study:
Strengths:
• Low occupational fatality rate
• Low rate of preventable hospitalizations
• Low rates of cancer deaths & cardiovascular deaths
Challenges:
• High rate of drug deaths
• Low high school graduation rate
• Large disparity in health status by educational attainment
Rounding out the top five healthiest states were Vermont, which was No. 1 last year, Minnesota, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
The report has been issued since 1990.
