Louisiana had its best showing in a report that ranks the health of all 50 states, coming in 47th. The America’s Health Ranking Report, which was released today by United Health Foundation, says the state is hurt by a number of factors, including a high prevalence of obesity (coming in at 49th in the nation) and smoking (coming in at 41st). While the number of Louisiana residents who smoke has dropped from 29.1% in 1990 to 20.4% in 2009, the number of obese people has jumped from 16.6% to 28.9% in the same period. The state was helped by several factors, including high immunization coverage and few poor mental health days per month. Vermont once again was ranked as the healthiest state, while Utah was second. Mississippi was the least healthy state, and Oklahoma was 49th. See the full report here.
La. moves up, but still low on health rankings
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