Georgia Not Among Healthiest States

ATLANTA, GA — An annual ranking released by the United Health Group ranks the healthiest states for 2017. Georgia falls into the bottom ten state on the list. The rankings place the Peach State as the 41st healthiest state in the country, the spot it had in the rankings the previous year.

The group's annual "America's Health Rankings" report published this month looks at 35 measures covering behaviors, community and environment, policy, clinical care and outcomes data. The report's executive summary says that the country is facing serious public health challenges, including rising rates of premature death and an uneven concentration of health care providers.

According to the report, the premature death rate (death before the age of 75) increased for the third straight year in the United States. 2017 also saw an increase in the rates of cardiovascular and drug deaths nationwide. The report also found a wide disparity in the concentration of both mental health providers and of primary care physicians and dentists in the country.

The healthiest states in the U.S. for 2017 are:

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

The states that rank at the bottom of the report are:

1. West Virginia
2. Alabama
3. Arkansas
4. Louisiana
5. Mississippi

According to the report, Georgia's place in the rankings was unchanged from 2016, when it was also No. 41. The state ranks 41st for senior health and 45th for the health of women and children.

Some of Georgia's strengths highlighted in the report are a low prevalence of excessive drinking, low drug death rate, and a high rate of meningococcal immunization coverage among adolescents. Some of the challenges the state faces are a high percentage of uninsured residents, a high percentage of children in poverty, and a high infant mortality rate.

In the past five years, the rate of obesity among adults in Georgia increased 12 percent from 28 percent to 31.4 percent. In the same period, preventable hospitalizations decreased 27 percent from 68.4 to 50.2 discharges per 1,000 Medicare enrollees.

Over the past 15 years, children in poverty increased 20 percent from 19.3 percent to 23.2 percent of children.

Click here for the full 2017 America's Health Rankings report.

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