South Carolina

South Carolina is 47^th this year; it was 48^th in 2003. The state's primary strength is strong support for public health with 8.0 percent of the state health budget allocated to public health. Among its challenges are ranking 50^th for a low high school graduation rate with 49.2 percent of incoming ninth graders who graduate within four years and a high violent crime rate at 822 offenses per 100,000 population. South Carolina also ranks among the bottom 10 states for a high prevalence of smoking, a high rate of motor vehicle deaths, a high incidence of infectious disease, a high number of limited activity days per month, a high infant mortality rate and a high premature death rate. The state has heath disparities between races; only 63.7 percent of pregnant black women receive adequate prenatal care compared to 76.9 percent of pregnant white women. The state ranks low in both the combined measures of risk factors and of outcomes (46^th and 42^nd, respectively), indicating the state is unlikely to change its relative healthiness in the near future.

In the past year, the prevalence of obesity decreased from 25.8 percent to 24.5 percent of the population, the percentage of children in poverty declined from 23.0 percent to 17.4 percent of persons under age 18 and the rate of uninsured population increased from 12.5 percent to 14.4 percent.

Since 1990, access to adequate prenatal care has increased from 56.7 percent to 72.3 percent of pregnant women receiving adequate prenatal care, and the rate of cancer deaths has increased from 189.4 to 205.9 deaths per 100,000 population.  The prevalence of smoking has declined from 27.1 percent to 25.5 percent of the population, a slower decline than other states.

To learn more about health and health initiatives in South Carolina, visit the South Carolina state department of health Web site at: www.scdhec.net/

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