Georgia Ranked 41st Healthiest State

In a disturbing development, the 2008 America’s Health Rankings: A Call to Action for Individuals & Their Communities revealed that the health of Americans has failed to improve for the fourth consecutive year.

Key factors contributing to these results included unprecedented levels of obesity, an increasing number of uninsured people, and the persistence of risky health behaviors, particularly tobacco use.

For local residents, the news was not overly inspiring. Georgia ranked as the 41st healthiest state in the U.S.

For 19 years, America’s Health Rankings™ has provided an annual analysis of national health on a state-by-state basis. The longest running report of its kind, America’s Health Rankings evaluates a historical and comprehensive set of health, environmental, and socio-economic data to determine national health benchmarks and an annual ranking of the healthiest and least healthy states.

Despite the discouraging national story, some states are making significant strides against some of the country’s biggest health challenges — demonstrating that there are workable solutions to the most prevalent health problems.

During the 1990s, health improved at an average rate of 1.5 percent per year, but improvements against national health measurements have remained flat for the last four years. Smoking, obesity, and the uninsured are the nation’s three most critical challenges. Significant reductions in the prevalence of smoking have not occurred since the early 1990s and have virtually stalled in the last four years.

America’s Health Rankings 2008 edition shows Vermont as the healthiest state for the second year in a row. A broad range of health initiatives have made it possible for Vermont to make progress in areas where the rest of the country needs the greatest improvement. Within the state, the prevalence of smoking has declined to 17.6 percent of the population, there is a slower rise in obesity than the U.S. national average, and the number of people without health insurance remains low. Vermont leads the nation for all health determinants measured.

Hawaii climbed from a ranking of third to second this year, followed by New Hampshire (3), Minnesota (4), and Utah (5) to round out the top five healthiest states.

On the down side, Louisiana replaces Mississippi as the least healthy state this year. Challenges include a high prevalence of obesity, a high percentage of children in poverty, and a high rate of uninsured population.

Mississippi improved to 49th followed by South Carolina (48), Tennessee (47), and Texas (46). Each of these states continues to struggle with difficult socioeconomic challenges that manifest themselves in these rankings.

A comparison of state rankings from 2007 to 2008 indicates that 36 states had positive changes in their overall health scores and 14 experienced declines.