Utah

Utah is fifth this year; it was third in 2003. Utah has been in the top ten states

Since 1990. Its biggest strengths include a low prevalence of smoking at 11.9 percent of the population, a low rate of cancer deaths at 160.3 deaths per 100,000 population and a low rate of deaths from cardiovascular disease at 271.2 deaths per 100,000 population. It is also among the top 10 states for a low rate of motor vehicle deaths, a high rate of high school graduation, a low violent crime rate, a low number of limited activity days per month, a low total mortality rate, a low infant mortality rate and a low premature death rate. Its challenges include low access to adequate prenatal care with 60.6 percent of pregnant women receiving adequate prenatal care and low per capita public health spending at $19 per person. Access to adequate prenatal care also indicates health disparities within the state, with only 42.3 percent of pregnant American Indian women receiving adequate care compared to 61.5 percent of pregnant white women. Utah is eighth for the combined measures of risk factors and second for the combined measures of outcomes, indicating it will likely remain among the relatively healthy states in the future.

In the past year, the prevalence of obesity increased from 17.5 percent to 20.8 percent of the population, and the percent of state health budget allocated to public health declined from 6.6 percent to 3.5 percent.

Since 1990, the infant mortality rate has decreased from 8.7 to 5.3 deaths per 1,000 live births, the incidence of infectious disease has declined from 30.4 to 10.3 cases per 100,000 population and access to adequate prenatal care has declined from 72.4 percent to 60.6 percent of pregnant women receiving adequate prenatal care.

To learn more about health and health initiatives in Utah, visit the Utah state department of health Web site at: health.utah.gov/

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