2007 America’s Health Rankings - Oregon ranks 20

Analysis shows Vermont, Minnesota and Hawaii are nation’s healthiest states;
Mississippi and Louisiana rank as least-healthy states

The overall health of the nation declined over the past year, despite progress made in several key health indicators, according to a report launched today by United Health Foundation, the American Public Health Association (APHA) and Partnership for Prevention™. The 18th annual edition of America’s Health Rankings™: A Call to Action for People & Their Communities measures the overall healthiness of states and the nation using a comprehensive and longitudinal set of related health determinants and health outcomes. The report indicates that the overall health of the nation declined by a rate of 0.3 percent since last year.

While this report, and others, show there have been modest gains in reducing the rates of cancer and cardiovascular mortality, these improvements continue to be dwarfed by increasing obesity, increasing numbers of uninsured people, children in poverty and the persistence of risky health behaviors, such as tobacco use and violent crime – all of which have a significant impact on the overall healthiness of the nation.

Once again, this year’s report provides a ranking of the healthiness of each state. Vermont surpassed Minnesota as the healthiest state in the nation this year, with Minnesota (2), Hawaii (3), New Hampshire (4) and Connecticut (5) rounding out the top five.

The data also notes that Mississippi ranks as the least healthy state, with Louisiana (49), Arkansas (48), Oklahoma (47) and Tennessee (46) completing the bottom five. The publishers of the report note that every state – no matter its ranking – has its own set of unique challenges to confront and successes on which to build and from which other states can learn.

To check out where Oregon ranks, click here.