MINNESOTA AGAIN NAMED HEALTHIEST STATE

The Associated Press State & Local Wire
November 8, 2004
BYLINE: By PATRICK CONDON

Minnesota has once again been named the healthiest state, maintaining a 15-year record that's kept it at or one spot from the top in a nationwide ranking.

The annual survey sponsored by United Health Foundation weighs such factors as number of citizens with health insurance, heart disease rates and infant mortality.

"Minnesota has a lot to be proud of," said Dr. Reed Tuckson, an official with the United Health Foundation, which is based in St. Paul. "To rank well, you have to demonstrate success across the board."

Since the rankings began in 1990, Minnesota has finished first nine out of 15 times, and never ranked lower than second. In 2003 it tied for first with New Hampshire.

This year New Hampshire came in second, with neighboring Vermont placing third. Finishing at the bottom were Tennessee, Mississippi, and in last place Louisiana, a spot it's occupied 14 of the last 15 years.

The U.S. as a whole has shown a 17.5 percent increase in the overall rate of healthiness since 1990, but the country as a whole has seen little improvement since 2000. One of the main reasons, Tuckson said, is an alarming increase in obesity rates.

Since 1990, the number of obese adults has almost doubled, to 22 percent of the American population.

While scoring best overall, one of Minnesota's problem areas is obesity. The state ranked 26th in the prevalence of obesity.

"No matter where any state ranks overall, it's going to have its share of challenges," Tuckson said.

Minnesota also saw less stellar rankings in the availability of prenatal care, and in health disparities. Those two factors collided for one of the more troubling statistics, that only 45 percent of American Indian women receive adequate prenatal care compared to 79 percent of white women.

"Even though we can be proud of our consistent good ranking, we know we can do even better in a couple of places," state Department of Health Commissioner Diane Mandernach said in a press release.

In addition to the leading factors, Minnesota also ranked well with a low rate of motor vehicle deaths, high high school graduation rates, a low percentage of poverty in children, in total mortality rate and commitment to public health.

The United Health Foundation is a nonprofit foundation established by UnitedHealth Group, the Minneapolis-based insurance company, to support public health and the work of doctors and other health providers around the country. The group undertakes the yearly study as a joint effort with the American Public Health Association and the Partnership for Prevention.