America's Health: State Health Rankings - 2004 Edition
Intro and Findings
  
Components
  
State Snapshots
  
Methodology
  
Commentaries and Special Features
Foreword and Introduction   Selection of Components   State by State Snapshots   Methodology   Letter from Director of The Centers for Disease Control
Measures of Success   Combined Measures:
 Risk Factors/Outcomes		   All State Summaries   Weighting of Components   The State of Infant Health: Is There Trouble Ahead
2004 Results    
Appendices
   The Obesity Epidemic: A Call to Action
Changes from 2003, 1990   Risk Factors    Occupational Fatalities   Index of Tables   Eliminating Health Disparities
Comparison to Other Nations   Outcomes    Health Disparity       Getting Involved: Your Responsibility

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is second this year; it was first in 2003. It has ranked in the top two states for the past seven years. Its biggest strengths include a low percentage of children in poverty at 7.2 percent of persons under age 18, high access to adequate prenatal care with 88.2 percent of pregnant women receiving adequate prenatal care, a low infant mortality rate at 4.4 deaths per 1,000 live births and a low premature death rate at 5,706 years of potential life lost before age 75 per 100,000 population. In addition, New Hampshire ranks in the top ten states for a low rate of motor vehicle deaths, a low violent crime rate, a low rate of uninsured population, high support for public health, a low incidence of infectious disease and a low total mortality rate. One challenge for the state is a higher than average rate of cancer deaths at 204.5 deaths per 100,000 population. Although both prenatal care and the premature death measures indicate some health disparities within the state, the amount is less than in most other states. The state ranks second for the combined measures of risk factors and third for the combined measures of outcomes, indicating that it is likely to remain among the top states for relative healthiness in the future.

In the past year, the prevalence of smoking decreased from 23.2 percent to 21.2 percent of the population, per capita public health spending increased from $54 to $106 per person and the number of limited activity days per month increased from 1.5 to 2.0 days in the previous 30 days.

Since 1990, the rate of uninsured population has decreased from 11.2 percent to 10.3 percent, the incidence of infectious disease has declined from 18.3 to 6.7 cases per 100,000 population and the rate of deaths from cardiovascular disease has decreased from 401.6 to 297.5 deaths per 100,000 population.

To learn more about health and health initiatives in New Hampshire, visit the New Hampshire state department of health Web site at: www.dhhs.state.nh.us/

New Hampshire graph Download this state report as a PDF file 		 
Rankings
Measurement Data
2004
2003
1990
2004
2003
1990
Risk Factors - Personal Behaviors
      
18
25
31
 Prevalence of Smoking (Percent of population)
21.2
23.2
30.7
3
3
2
 Motor Vehicle Deaths (Deaths per 100,000,000 miles driven)
1.0
1.0
1.7
13
4
19
 Prevalence of Obesity (Percent of population)
20.2
17.9
11.1
14
13
32
 High School Graduation (Percent of incoming ninth graders)
75.2
75.3
74.6
Risk Factors - Community Environment
      
4
5
5
 Violent Crime (Offenses per 100,000 population)
161
170
149
5
5
23
 Lack of Health Insurance (Percent without health insurance)
10.3
9.9
11.2
7
7
12
 Infectious Disease (Cases per 100,000 population)
6.7
7.2
18.3
1
3
2
 Children in Poverty (percent of persons under age 18)
7.2
8.2
8.9
21
15
17
 Occupational Fatalities (Deaths per 100,000 workers)
4.9
4.6
8.7*
Risk Factors - Health Policies
      
6
16
-
 Percent of Health Dollars for Public Health (Percent of health exp.)
10.9
6.3
-
7
16
-
 Per Capita Public Health Spending ($ per person)
$106
$54
-
1
2
2
 Adequacy of Prenatal Care (Percent of pregnant women)
88.2
87.1
79.8
Outcomes
      
18
4
16
 Limited Activity Days (Days in last 30 days)
2.0
1.5
3.3*
12
8
26
 Cardiovascular Deaths (Deaths per 100,000 population)
297.5
297.9
401.6
26
30
36
 Cancer Deaths (Deaths per 100,000 population)
204.5
210.3
207.2
8
8
17
 Total Mortality (Deaths per 100,000 population)
793.9
796.0
838.2
2
1
2
 Infant Mortality (Deaths per 1,000 live births)
4.4
4.8
8.4
2
2
3
 Premature Death (Years lost per 100,000 population)
5,706
5,840
6,989
2
1
5
Overall
23.9
24.4
17.1

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