The 2016 Annual Report by UnitedHealth Foundation was recently released and the results on our nation’s condition are in! The report details core and supplemental measures from Air Pollution by state to Binge Drinking statistics.
As a result Becker’s Hospital Review recently highlighted the Top 5 Healthiest and Unhealthiest States in America. Cumulatively speaking, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Minnesota, and Vermont improved in indicators such as smoking, hospitalizations, while Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, and Oklahoma were deemed last on the list regarding improvement in these indicators.
One of the major highlights mentioned was obesity. As a nation in 2016, obesity cost the United States roughly $201 billion. $4.3 billion alone goes to employees missing work for obesity-related reasons and overall costs employers an average of $500 per obese employee every year due to lower productivity. This year alone, the Annual Report states a 7% increase in obesity among the adult population in the U.S. It was no surprise to see that cardiovascular related deaths also increased this year.
The 2016 Annual Report also highlighted an increase in drug-related deaths by 15%. The high school graduation rates increased from 78% to 83%. Smoking has continued to steadily decrease since 2005 and set a record 17% decrease this year alone. Although the smoking factor is saving lives in these rankings additional factors that were measured proved that premature deaths rose yet again for the second year in a row from 6,997 to 7,054 per 100,000 population.
For more information about the 2016 Annual Report presented by UnitedHealth Foundation, please visit http://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/2016-annual-report/measure/Overall/state/ALL
