Kansas Health Institute | Information For Policy Makers. Health for Kansans.

TOPEKA — Vermont remained the nation's healthiest state, Mississippi the unhealthiest, and Kansas moved up one slot in 2010 to become the 23rd fittest, according to America's Health Rankings, a report released today by the United Health Foundation.

The nation’s overall health improved one percentage point over last year, according to the organization, but reductions in smoking, preventable hospitalizations and infectious disease were offset by continued increases in obesity, children in poverty, and lack of health insurance.

The report also showed a 19 percent increase since the 2005 report in the percentage of adults nationally who have been diagnosed with diabetes.

“The rate of gain, while positive, is wholly inadequate for us as a nation. We know with certainty that many people will suffer consequences of preventable disease unless we strengthen individual healthiness, community by community across America,” said Dr. Reed Tuckson, United Health Foundation board member and chief of medical affairs for UnitedHealth Group. “The persistent year after year increase in obesity, physical inactivity, diabetes, and other risk factors combined with a still unacceptably high use of tobacco means an increased burden of chronic illness, including diabetes, with medical care costs that will be unaffordable for any state, private employer, or individual in the days to come. States are showing that we can successfully deal with health issues, but only by tackling those issues head on.”

Kansas' strengths, according to the report, were relatively few days of productivity lost to poor mental or physical health, low incidence of infectious disease at 6.2 cases per 100,000 population and ready access to early prenatal care with 72.8 percent of pregnant women receiving care during the first trimester.

The state's weaknesses were low spending on public health programs, limited availability of primary care doctors, high infant mortality and a high rate of deaths from workplace injuries.

Tobacco use and deaths from cardiovascular disease were down in Kansas while the incidence of obesity was up.