For the most part, Americans have famously sh*tty diets. Unless you’ve made it a personal mission of yours to improve the way you eat, you’re probably also guilty of this fact. Even if you’re trying to eat healthily, its easy to screw up. Add America’s worsening environmental and employee healthcare policies into the mix and you got yourself a recipe for poor overall health countrywide.
Surely some states fare better than others, of course, and thanks to a new study conducted by the United Health Foundation we now know which. All 50 states have been ranked for 2018 by the United Health Foundation, which conducts an annual report that focuses on behaviors, community and environment, policy, and clinical care on a state by state basis. These determinants are meant to reflect the health outcomes of a state and are further broken down into 35 representative measures such as drinking and smoking rates, air pollution, and infant mortality, through analysis of up to date data sources.
You may be scratching your head at this point, wondering just how the UHF is defining “health” in this instance. The ranking is based on the World Health Organization’s definition of health, which the UHF states is “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
Ranking in dead last as the least healthy state is Louisiana (we blame Fat Tuesday), followed closely by Mississippi (home of some of the wildest state fair foods). But the UHF decided to take an overall positive tone, contending that those two states had the most room for improvement.
Topping off the list at number one was Hawaii, followed by Massachusetts, and Connecticut, all three of which landed in the top ten for all five categories analyzed by the report. On a positive note, the 2018 report shows that the difference between the highest and lowest scores is smaller than last year’s, so at least we seem to be moving forward as a nation.
Place your bets and check out where you state lands on the health ranking below, and be sure to take a look at the full report to see which states climbed up or down the list from the previous year.
50. Louisiana
49. Mississippi
48. Alabama
47. Oklahoma
46. Arkansas
45. Kentucky
44. West Virginia
43. South Carolina
42. Tennessee
41. Indiana
40. Ohio
39. Georgia
38. Missouri
37. Texas
36. Nevada
35. New Mexico
34. Michigan
33. North Carolina
32. Alaska
31. Delaware
30. Arizona
29. Florida
28. Pennsylvania
27. Kansas
26. Illinois
25. South Dakota
24. Wyoming
23. Wisconsin
22. Oregon
21. Montana
20. Virginia
19. Maryland
18. Iowa
17. Maine
16. Idaho
15. Nebraska
14. Rhode Island
13. North Dakota
12. California
11. New Jersey
10. New York
9. Washington
8. Colorado
7. Minnesota
6. New Hampshire
5. Utah
4. Vermont
3. Connecticut
2. Massachusetts
1. Hawaii
