NEW: Rhode Island Named #10 Healthiest State in US
Friday, December 14, 2012
According to the report, the state’s strengths include its high immunization coverage and ready availability of primary care physicians.
While the news is good for Rhode Island, the state remains behind other New England states, which continue to place higher in the annual ranking. Vermont tops the national ranking at #1, followed by New Hampshire at #3, and Massachusetts at #4. Connecticut ranked #6 and Maine ranked #9.
Steps forward
“We applaud our partners and the primary care community for helping to make Rhode Island a healthy and safe place to live, learn, work, and play,” said Michael Fine, MD, director of HEALTH. “We are pleased by these steps forward for Rhode Island’s health, but we are also reminded of the work that will help us get to number one.”
That work will include addressing Rhode Island’s health challenges, which, according to the report, include a high prevalence of binge drinking and preventable hospitalizations. In addition, Rhode Islanders report many days of poor mental and physical health per month.
The state health rankings include statewide population health indicators, as well as information on health disparities among different groups. In Rhode Island, both obesity and a sedentary lifestyle, which is defined as not doing any physical activity outside of work for the last 30 days, are more prevalent among non-Hispanic blacks (35.7% and 35.2%, respectively) than non-Hispanic whites (24.7% and 23.3%). Smoking, meanwhile, is more prevalent among non-Hispanic whites than Hispanics. These data highlight the importance of involving communities in developing and implementing targeted efforts to improve public health.
America’s Health Rankings® is the longest-running report of its kind. For 23 years, these rankings have provided an analysis of national health on a state-by-state basis, evaluating a historical and comprehensive set of health, environmental and socioeconomic data to determine national health benchmarks and state rankings. For more information, visit www.americashealthrankings.org
For specific data about public health in Rhode Island, visit www.health.ri.gov/data
Related Articles
- NEW: Rhode Island Named #49 State For Business—Forbes
- NEW: Rhode Island Ranks No. 7 on List of Scariest States for Jobseekers
- Rhode Island Ranks 17th for Child Well-Being
- Rhode Island Ranks 16th in the New Economy Index
- Rhode Island Ranked Third Worst State in Country to Retire
- NEW: Rhode Island Ranks #19 In US For Entrepreneurship
Comments:
Mateo C
11:32am on Friday, December 14, 2012
i would think part of this is because everyone here is walking around looking for work - all that exercise could be good for you...
on the other hand, if everyone in RI is so healthy, why does this state have such high numbers of people on disability?..