Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Unhealthiest State in the Nation
Posted by David Winkler-Schmit on Wed, Dec 3, 2008 at 8:42 PM
According to United Health Foundation’s “2008 America’s Health Rankings,” Louisiana has replaced Mississippi as the least healthy state in the nation. Some of the outcomes that lead to the state’s abysmal rating include:
- 49th in terms of infant mortality rate (10.3 deaths per 1,000 births)
- 45th in cardiovascular deaths
- 49th in cancer deaths
- 49th in premature deaths
What helps produce these unfortunate outcomes? The reports lists the following determinants:
- 48th in preventable hospital admissions
- 47th in lack of health insurance (20.2 percent of Louisianans have no insurance)
- 46th in high school graduations (slightly less than 70 percent of incoming Louisiana ninth graders will graduate from high school)
- 47th in children’s poverty
- 47th in prevalence of obesity (more than 30 percent of the population is considered obese)
It’s not a pretty picture, but if you’re interested in seeing more of it, here you go.
(United Health Foundation is funded by the United Health Group, which owns a number of businesses in the health-care industry including United Healthcare. Gambit Communications purchases health-care insurance through United Healthcare.)
Comments (4)
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Dang. Too bad we don't have a governor with experience in the health field who could... Oh. Wait.
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What is a "premature death"? How do you know if it was premature or right on time? Or does it mean died before hitting puberty?
