The Healthiest U.S. State

The results are in! For the third year in a row, Hawaii has claimed the top spot as healthiest state, according to America’s Health Rankings®—2014 Edition.

Hawaii remains at the top of the list in part because of its low rates of smoking, obesity, and deaths from cancer and cardiovascular disease. Conversely, Mississippi takes the bottom spot owing to a high prevalence of obesity, physical inactivity, diabetes and more. The southern state has been listed in the bottom three states since the report was first conceived in 1990.

The report adds that preventable health problems continue to spread in the United States.

• Obesity rates have increased 153% since 1990.
• More than 23% of adults are physically inactive, though the report notes that
  this hasn’t changed much in the last decade.
• Diabetes rates have continued to climb, but growth seems to have leveled out
  in the past 3 years.

Here’s a list of the top and bottom five healthiest states:

TOP

1. Hawaii
2. Vermont
3. Massachusetts
4. Connecticut
5. Utah

BOTTOM

1. Mississippi
2. Arkansas
3. Louisiana
4. Kentucky
5. Oklahoma

The report, now in its 25th year, comprises myriad information—including
physical activity levels, access to healthcare, poverty levels, mortality, obesity and other factors—to determine each state’s overall health rank. Read the full report here: www.americashealthrankings.org/reports/annual.

Note: The report does not explain whether diabetes rates refer to type 1, type 2 or both.