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 Mexico

New Mexico is 38th this year; it was 40th in 2003. New Mexico has gradually increased its ranking since 1996 when it ranked 48th. Its strengths are a low rate of cancer deaths at 178.5 deaths per 100,000 population, a low rate of deaths from cardiovascular disease at 284.9 deaths per 100,000 population, a low infant mortality rate at 5.9 deaths per 1,000 live births and a low total mortality rate at 819.8 deaths per 100,000 population. Challenges include a high percentage of children in poverty at 26.9 percent of persons under age 18, low access to adequate prenatal care with 56.0 percent of pregnant women receiving adequate prenatal care, a high rate of uninsured population at 22.1 percent and a high violent crime rate at 740 offenses per 100,000 population. Access to adequate prenatal care indicates there are also health disparities among races within the state. For example, 46.4 percent of pregnant American Indian women receive adequate prenatal care compared to 57.4 percent of pregnant white women. New Mexico is 48th for the combined measures of risk factors and 17th for the combined measures of outcomes, indicating that the state is not likely to continue to improve its relative healthiness without additional focus on risk factors.

In the past year, the infant mortality rate decreased from 6.5 to 5.9 deaths per 1,000 live births, and the percentage of the state health budget allocated to public health declined from 5.7 percent to 2.3 percent.

Since 1990, the incidence of infectious disease has decreased from 64.2 to 15.8 cases per 100,000 population, and the high school graduation rate has declined from 73.2 percent to 61.5 percent of incoming ninth graders who graduate within four years. The prevalence of smoking has declined from 28.5 percent to 22.0 percent of the population.

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

New Mexico graph Download this state report as a PDF file 		 
Rankings
Measurement Data
2004
2003
1990
2004
2003
1990
Risk Factors - Personal Behaviors
      
23
10
15
 Prevalence of Smoking (Percent of population)
22.0
21.2
28.5
38
37
43
 Motor Vehicle Deaths (Deaths per 100,000,000 miles driven)
1.9
1.9
3.1
13
16
6
 Prevalence of Obesity (Percent of population)
20.2
19.8
9.8
41
40
34
 High School Graduation (Percent of incoming ninth graders)
61.5
61.0
73.2
Risk Factors - Community Environment
      
47
48
40
 Violent Crime (Offenses per 100,000 population)
740
781
628
49
49
48
 Lack of Health Insurance (Percent without health insurance)
22.1
21.1
23.8
21
25
45
 Infectious Disease (Cases per 100,000 population)
15.8
19.8
64.2
50
49
46
 Children in Poverty (percent of persons under age 18)
26.9
25.4
27.1
40
34
34
 Occupational Fatalities (Deaths per 100,000 workers)
6.8
6.3
11.6*
Risk Factors - Health Policies
      
41
20
-
 Percent of Health Dollars for Public Health (Percent of health exp.)
2.3
5.7
-
36
19
-
 Per Capita Public Health Spending ($ per person)
$24
$51
-
49
49
50
 Adequacy of Prenatal Care (Percent of pregnant women)
56.0
56.8
48.8
Outcomes
      
31
38
29
 Limited Activity Days (Days in last 30 days)
2.2
2.2
4.2*
6
4
1
 Cardiovascular Deaths (Deaths per 100,000 population)
284.9
286.0
328.5
3
4
1
 Cancer Deaths (Deaths per 100,000 population)
178.5
178.7
169.7
15
10
14
 Total Mortality (Deaths per 100,000 population)
819.8
807.0
832.0
12
19
6
 Infant Mortality (Deaths per 1,000 live births)
5.9
6.5
8.8
35
33
37
 Premature Death (Years lost per 100,000 population)
8,127
8,017
9,151
38
40
44
Overall
-6.6
-7.3
-7.9

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