Washington 14th healthiest state, a decline from last year
Dec 11, 2013, 2:16 PM | Updated: 4:21 pm
Washington ranks comfortably in the upper middle of states when it comes to overall health. A comprehensive analysis of health behaviors, policies and other factors ranks Washington 14th in the nation, down from 12 last year.
The 24th Edition of America’s Health Rankings, done by United Health Foundation, puts Washington number two for avoiding low birthweight and third lowest for infant mortality.
“That’s a good indicator, not only of our health today but of the health of future generations when our kids are born at a good birth weight and they [mothers] make it through their whole term,” said Tim Church with the Washington State Health Department.
At the same time, Washington ranks near the bottom – 39th – in the rate of immunization for children ages 19 months to 35 months.
“It’s been a struggle in this state,” Church admitted. “We’ve worked hard and our immunization rates have climbed over the last 10 years, or so, but this figure shows they did take a dip recently.”
The state has made progress in reducing smoking among adults.
“Ten years ago, we had about the 22nd lowest smoking rate in the nation and so now we’re down to 11th, and that certainly helps our overall state health,” said Church.
Washington is 9th in the nation in percentage of dentists compared to the population.
The report cites physical inactivity as a key health risk and Washington is ranked 9th best in the nation for that statistic.
“A lot of people in Washington are pretty active and get out and get some physical exercise and that’s important because inactivity leads to obesity, diabetes, heart issues, so we’re glad we’re doing well in those areas,” said Church. However the survey found that 1.4 million Washingtonians are obese and one-million adults in the state are considered inactive.
The state is seventh best in premature deaths.
In terms of health disparity, the report finds a 31-percent gap between educated adults and adults with less than a high school education who consider their health very good or excellent.
