How Virginia Ranks on 63 Key Health Measures

RICHMOND, VA — Virginia, again, was slightly ahead of the national average in the latest America's Health Rankings report — a collection of dozens of key measures that help determine a state's overall health. Measures include health issues like diabetes and cholesterol rates, environmental conditions like air pollution and water quality, and social factors like graduation rates and unemployment.

Overall, Virginia ranked 19th among the 50 states — that's up two spots from 2015. Hawaii is considered the healthiest state, followed by Massachusetts, Connecticut, Minnesota and Vermont. The state at the bottom of the list was Mississippi at 50.

America's Health Rankings is the longest-running annual assessment of the nation's health based on state results, according to the report's sponsors at the United Health Foundation and the American Public Health Association. Data used to determine the rankings comes from the Centers for Disease Control, the U.S. Census Bureau, the American Medical Association and more. See the complete report at American Health Rankings online.

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Virginia ranked 29th for senior health and 12th for the health of women and children, according to the report.

The state's strengths included a low rate of drug deaths and children in poverty, compared to other states. Virginia also ranked well among states with a low prevalence of "frequent physical distress."

The state's percentage of adults who smoke took a sharp drop, from 19.5 percent in the previous year to 16.5 percent in the latest report. But, immunizations among toddlers dropped to 64 percent from more than 74 percent last year.

The report also noted that preventable hospitalizations in Virginia have decreased 37 percent in the past decade.

Here are Virginia's rankings on 63 key measures included in the report:

• Air Pollution 18
• Behaviors 14
• Binge Drinking 26
• Cancer Deaths 23
• Cardiovascular Deaths 25
• Children in Poverty 8
• Chlamydia 26
• Cholesterol Check 11
• Chronic Drinking 24
• Clinical Care 22
• Colorectal Cancer Screening 16
• Community & Environment 8
• Dental Visit, Annual 13
• Dentists 15
• Diabetes 28
• Disparity in Health Status 29
• Drug Deaths 7
• Excessive Drinking 21
• Frequent Mental Distress 11
• Frequent Physical Distress 10
• Fruits 24
• Heart Attack 6
• Heart Disease 9
• High Blood Pressure 34
• High Cholesterol 16
• High Health Status 15
• High School Graduation 20
• Immunization HPV female 32
• Immunization HPV male 31
• Immunization Meningococcal 44
• Immunization Tdap 42
• Immunizations - Adolescents 42
• Immunizations - Children 50
• Income Disparity 28
• Infant Mortality 25
• Infectious Disease 14
• Injury Deaths 8
• Insufficient Sleep 31
• Lack of Health Insurance 27
• Low Birthweight 22
• Median Household Income 13
• Obesity 22
• Occupational Fatalities 27
• Personal Income, Per Capita 11
• Pertussis 18
• Physical Inactivity 22
• Policy 43
• Poor Mental Health Days 5
• Poor Physical Health Days 6
• Premature Death 16
• Preventable Hospitalizations 15
• Primary Care Physicians 24
• Public Health Funding 30
• Salmonella 25
• Seat Belt Use 21
• Smoking 20
• Stroke 28
• Suicide 16
• Underemployment Rate 24
• Unemployment Rate, Annual 18
• Vegetables 31
• Violent Crime 3
• Water Fluoridation 7

National Cause for Concern

Noting health gains in other categories, report authors are concerned about rising rates in some key areas.

For the first time, the report found the cardiovascular death rate has increased in the past year, from 250.8 to 251.7 deaths per 100,000. Drug deaths increased by 4 percent in the past year, and the premature death rate increased for the second year in a row.

Since the rankings were first released in 1990, the prevalence of obesity among adults has increased by 157 percent, according to report authors.

“We have made important strides across the country against public health challenges; however, we are at a crossroads between a healthier future as a nation and a future in which troubling public health measurements become increasingly common,” said Dr. Reed Tuckson, external senior medical adviser to United Health Foundation. “This data provides a roadmap for states, local communities and the public health sector to work together to get ahead of the challenges coming.”

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