In an effort to educate Americans and encourage them to take steps toward a healthier future, the United Health Foundation annually presents America’s Health Rankings®: A Call to Action for Individuals & Their Communities.
America's Health Rankings has tracked the health of the nation for the past 22 years, providing a unique, comprehensive perspective on how the nation - and each state - measures up. The 2011 Edition of the Rankings suggests our nation is extremely adept at treating illness and disease. However, Americans are struggling to change unhealthy behaviors such as smoking and obesity, which cause many of these diseases in the first place.
Key findings include:
- Obesity has increased 137 percent from 11.6 percent of the adult population in the 1990 Edition to 27.5 percent in the 2011 Edition; meaning today, more than one in four Americans are considered obese. Obesity continues to be one of the fastest growing health issues in our nation and America is spending billions in direct health care costs associated with poor diet and physical inactivity.
- Smoking has been one of the biggest health battles for decades. In the past year, the prevalence of smoking decreased from 17.9 percent to 17.3 percent of the adult population, the lowest in 22 years (from a high of 29.5 percent in the 1990 Edition). But tobacco use is still estimated to be responsible for one out of five deaths annually (approximately 443,000 deaths per year).
- Children living in poverty are challenged by lack of access to health care, limited availability of healthy foods, constrained choices for physical activity, limited access to appropriate educational opportunities and stressful living conditions. The number of children in poverty has increased for the last five years. A steady increase has occurred, from 17.4 percent of children reported in the 2007 Edition to 21.5 percent of children in the 2011 Edition.
- Lack of health insurance coverage increased from 16.0 percent in the 2010 Edition to 16.2 percent in the 2011 Edition, and has increased more than two full percentage points since the 2001 Edition (13.9 percent to 16.2 percent).
- Diabetes diagnosis is significantly higher than it was five years ago. According to the report, 8.7 percent of American adults have been told by a physician that they have diabetes. A recent report from the CDC estimates that the number of Americans with diabetes will range from 1 in 5 to 1 in 3 by 2050. This means a large number of people are either at risk for diabetes or are unaware they have the disease and are not being medically managed.
To learn more about these and other health trends visit the America’s Health Rankings website.
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Our partners
United Health Foundation’s America’s Health Rankings is published in partnership with:
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American Public Health Association (APHA)
Since 1872, the APHA has worked to protect communities from serious health threats by promoting disease prevention and access to preventive health services for all Americans.
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Partnership for Prevention (PFP)
To inspire a “prevention culture” in America, the PFP raises awareness of crucial investments in the areas of disease prevention and health promotion.
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Awards
Winner 2011 WebAward from the Web Marketing Association
• Outstanding Achievement in Web Development for the
America’s Health Rankings - State HealthStats
Winner 2011 eHealthcare Leadership Awards
• Best Overall Internet Site
• Best Site Design
