States With The Least Healthy (And Healthiest) Populations, Ranked

[mountaineer]

States With The Least Healthy (And Healthiest) Populations, Ranked
Cassidy Horton and Korrena Bailie
Updated: Jan 8, 2024, 6:10am
FORBES

Good health can allow you to fully participate in the activities you enjoy and live life to the fullest. Yet many Americans struggle with chronic health conditions that hamper their quality of life. Six in 10 American adults have at least one chronic disease and four in 10 have two or more, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC defines a chronic disease as a condition that lasts at least a year and requires ongoing medical attention or can inhibit daily life—or both.

Unfortunately, the rate of chronic disease is projected to increase over the next few decades. Between 2025 and 2060, the number of Americans with diabetes is expected to increase by 39.3%, hypertension by 27.2% and obesity by 18.3%, according to the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Some states have higher rates of chronic disease than others, in part due to unhealthy lifestyles and high substance abuse.

To determine which states have the healthiest and least healthy populations, Forbes Advisor compared all 50 states across 21 metrics spanning three categories: disease risk factors and prevalence, substance abuse, lifestyle habits and health outlook. ...

Key Takeaways

    *West Virginia tops the list of states with the least healthy populations, while Hawaii ranks as the state with the healthiest residents.
    *Eight of the top 10 least healthy states are in the South: West Virginia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama, Louisiana and Oklahoma.
    *Five of the top 10 healthiest states are on the East Coast: Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire and New York.
    *Mississippi ranks worst overall in our disease risk factors and prevalence category, West Virginia residents have the worst lifestyle habits and health outlook and Vermont is the worst state for substance abuse.

Full story: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/life-insurance/states-ranked-least-healthy-populations/

[cato potatoe]

Hawaii may be healthiest overall, but the polynesians are incredibly obese. 

[catfish1957]

I forgot which comic said it back in the 1970's but it was a hoot.

Paraphrased kind of like this.....

Dr. told me, if I gave up smoking, drinking, red meat, and sex, I'd add another 5-10 on my life.  Hmmmm...  Just what I want....  Another 5-10 years bed ridden and drooling all over myself.

[LMAO]

Mississippi has always ranked as the least healthiest state for as far back as I can remember

Why? Is Southern cuisine notoriously unhealthy?

[catfish1957]

Mississippi has always ranked as the least healthiest state for as far back as I can remember

Why? Is Southern cuisine notoriously unhealthy?

Ohhhh yeah....  Lots of fatty pork, carbs, and sugary deserts.  And if it means living to be 70 instead of 80, so be it.

[mountaineer]

WV and MS consistently swap 1st and 2nd places in any state-by-state measure of poorest, fattest, least educated, etc.

[LMAO]

Ohhhh yeah....  Lots of fatty pork, carbs, and sugary deserts.  And if it means living to be 70 instead of 80, so be it.

The south wouldn’t work for me. My diet is pretty healthy. I’m almost 60 years old and I’m lean and all my lab work is great along with my blood pressure and pulse

Now watch. I’ll die of a heart attack before 60.

[mountaineer]

Remember when President Kennedy said there's nothing more unfortunate than fat children? Mr. M saw this clip posted somewhere, and the lefties immediately jumped on it, "Yeah, well, there was no SNAP back then and children were starving" and nonsense like that. In my county's school district, every child - no matter how wealthy his or her family - gets free breakfast. I'd love to check out breakfast at the high school some time, and see how many of those children isn't at least 50 pounds overweight. Maybe it's time for more physical fitness and less free food.

Incidentally, Mr. M said one of the comments to the video clip was a fake poll:

Which president has more brain matter?
Kennedy        95%
Biden              5%

Ouch.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnUL9xt_aW8