Utah ranks as the nation's sixth healthiest state in the United Health Foundation's annual "America's Health Rankings" report released this week, a slip from the state's fourth-place rating last year.

"A drop of two places isn't cause for alarm," said Cyndi Bemis, spokeswoman for the Utah Department of Health.

After all, Utah still has the smallest number of smokers (11.5 percent of Utahns smoke) and fewest cancer deaths (156.3 per 100,000 people) of any state in the nation. The report also concluded that Utah has the lowest infant mortality rate (4.7 deaths per 1,000 live births) in the nation.

Bemis blamed the state's slide to sixth place, however, on a 2.5 percent increase in the number of Utahns (16.6 percent) who lack health insurance. In that category, Utah moved from 23rd in the nation last year to 34th in this year's report.

Sore spots in the report for Utah continue to be its per capita spending on public health ($72 per person) and its immunization record for children under 3 years old — the state ranked 47th in both categories.

One-quarter of Utah toddlers between the ages of 19 months and 35 months are not fully immunized, according to the report. State officials point out that those children are "at risk of contracting and spreading preventable diseases."

Minnesota was deemed the healthiest state, followed by Vermont, New Hampshire, Hawaii and Connecticut. The most unhealthy state was Louisiana, due mostly to high rates of obesity, occupational fatalities, children in poverty, infant mortality and cancer deaths.

Right behind Louisiana in the rankings were Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas and Alabama.

Overall, Utah ranked among the top 10 states in nine of the report's 18 categories.

Utah was among the report's top 10 states in terms of a relatively low rate of motor-vehicle deaths, a smaller population of obese people, fewer violent crimes and less children living in poverty.

"The rankings symbolize much of the valuable work done in public health," said David Sundwall, executive director of the state health department.

"Utah is fortunate to have prominent community, family and environmental supports that lead to healthier behaviors, as well as a solid framework of medical care options that allow for life-saving and life-improving procedures."

The United Health Foundation is a Minnesota-based nonprofit group whose mission is "to support the health and medical decisions made by physicians, health professionals, community leaders and individuals that lead to better health outcomes and healthier communities."

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E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com