Report Ranks California 24th Among States for Overall Health
A new report from the UnitedHealth Foundation, the American Public Health Association and the Partnership for Prevention ranks California as the 24th healthiest state in the U.S. this year, the Sacramento Business Journal reports (Wiese, Sacramento Business Journal, 12/6).
For the report, researchers examined data on 23 health and socioeconomic indicators from CDC, the Census Bureau and other federal agencies (Harding, CNN, 12/6).
The report -- titled, "America's Health Rankings" -- is designed to help lawmakers improve public health.
Key Findings
California's ranking this year marked an improvement from 2010, when the state ranked 26th. In 2009, the state ranked 23rd.
According to the report, the state continues to have low smoking rates, low infant mortality rates, few workplace deaths and high rates of early prenatal care.
The report found that the percentage of Californians who are obese dropped from 25.5% in 2010 to 24.7% this year and that the rate of adults with diabetes dropped from 9.1% last year to 8.6% this year.
However, California still has high levels of air pollution, low immunization rates among children and a high rate of residents who lack health insurance (San Diego Union-Tribune, 12/6).
The report ranked Vermont as the healthiest state and Mississippi as the least healthy state (Sacramento Business Journal, 12/6).
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