Utah again ranks No. 6 in health

Utah is No. 6 in terms of general health for the second year in a row, buoyed by low cancer, smoking and infant mortality rates, according to an annual national report released this morning.

United Health Foundation, the American Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention, collaborated on "America's Health Rankings: A Call to Action for People and Their Communities." It's the 18th annual report. The groups considered 20 health and well-being factors, including poverty levels for children, level of violent crime, obesity and more.

While Utah received the same ranking as last year, America's Health Rankings 2007 says the nation's overall health is getting worse, declining by 0.3 percent, in contrast to consistent 1.5 percent improvements between 1990 and 2000. And nationwide, obesity has grown from 11.6 percent of the population in 1990 to more than 25 percent today.

Jason Sprenger, spokesman for United Health Foundation, said that America has its highest life expectancy ever at 77.9 years, but 43 other nations have higher life expectancies than the United States.

Vermont ranked No. 1 this year, replacing Minnesota, which is second. Hawaii, New Hampshire and Connecticut round out the top five. Mississippi is the least healthy state, preceded by Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

Among Utah's positives, the report listed a high rate of high school graduation, a low level of violent crime and lower percentage of binge drinking. In terms of obesity, Utah is No. 8.

But the report balances those findings against "challenges" that include limited access to primary care, a "moderate" rate of immunization (Utah is No. 25), a large uninsured population and lower per-capita public health spending. The proportion of uninsured, according to the report, has increased 46 percent since 1990.

And it noted significant health disparities. Blacks have 36 percent more premature deaths than whites, and cancer deaths are 39 percent more prevalent among blacks than whites. People who live outside of urban centers also experience 30 percent more premature death than those in the fringe counties of larger metro areas.

Utah took top honors for low number of cancer deaths and for the lowest smoking rate. The report gives the rankings for 2007, 2006, 2000 and 1990, and Utah was No. 1 in those areas each of those years. America's 45 million active smokers would be reduced by 20 million, it said, if all states achieved Utah's low smoking rate.

But Utah is near the bottom for the number of primary care physicians per 100,000 residents (90.9), placing it in 45th place. And it's No. 37 for lack of health insurance and No. 30 for number of occupational deaths per 100,000 workers (6.4).

The full report is online at www.americashealthrankings.org.

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E-mail: lois@desnews.com