Do you live in Vermont? If so, you are living in the healthiest state in America!
How about Louisiana? Unfortunately, it has been named as the country's unhealthiest state.
How are the rankings decided?
Assessors ranked all fifty states based on infant mortality, obesity rates, access to health insurance, crime rates and other factors. Last year, Mississippi ranked unhealthiest and Southern states in general rank lower, due to poverty, lack of health care and obesity factors, among others.
Louisiana has a high rate of smokers (which leads to many diseases like lung cancer, heart disease, and emphysema), one in five have no health insurance and one in three are classified as obese.
So what makes Vermont healthy?
Vermont is four percentage points lower in obesity than the national average and has a relatively low crime rate. The state is the third highest spender in health care and high school graduation rates are high. Vermont has been announced as the healthiest state in the country for 6 of the last seven years! As Southern states dominate "unhealthy states" rankings, New England and upper eastern seaboard states dominate the "healthy" positions.
Tell Us
Where do you live? Do you look around and see healthy people or do you think you live in a community that lacks exercise, healthy diets and good access to health insurance?