Delaware

Delaware is tied with Indiana for 32^nd this year; it was 34^th in 2003. Its strengths include a low percentage of children in poverty at 11.0 percent of persons under age 18, strong support for public health with 9.4 percent of the state health budget allocated to public health and high access to adequate prenatal care with 81.1 percent of pregnant women receiving adequate prenatal care. Challenges include a high incidence of infectious disease at 34.2 cases per 100,000 population, a high rate of cancer deaths at 217.9 deaths per 100,000 population and a high infant mortality rate at 8.7 deaths per 1,000 live births. Health disparities within the state are present, as illustrated by the differences in premature death rates between races - black non-Hispanic individuals experience 12,567 years of potential life lost before age 75 per 100,000 population compared to Hispanic individuals who experience 6,759 years lost. Delaware is 25^th for the combined measures of risk factors and 38^th for the combined measures of outcomes, implying the state is on a positive course and may be able to improve its relative healthiness in future years.

In the past year, the prevalence of smoking decreased from 24.7 percent to 21.9 percent of the population, and the rate of uninsured population increased from 9.9 percent to 11.1 percent.

Since 1990, access to adequate prenatal care has increased from 69.9 percent to 81.1 percent of pregnant women receiving adequate prenatal care, the prevalence of smoking has declined from 31.8 percent to 21.9 percent of the population, the total mortality rate has declined from 929.6 to 874.8 deaths per 100,000 population and the prevalence of obesity has increased from 14.4 percent to 24.0 percent of the population.

To learn more about health and health initiatives in Delaware, visit the Delaware state department of health Web site at: www.state.de.us/dhss/dph/index.htm

A dash (--) indicates data not available.
* Data sources and/or methdology may not be comparable for this year.