Personal Injury Law

Florida Slips in Health Ranking

By Eddie Farah

Florida used to rank 41^st in states in terms of health, now that number has dropped.

Florida was No. 45 in the latest America’s Health Ranking. That represents a partnership between United Health Foundation, the American Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention. Statistics in Florida come from the Department of Health.

The drop is at least partially attributable to the higher rates of uninsured people in Florida, and high incidences of infectious disease. On the flip side for positively affecting health is a low rate of air pollution and obesity. Also the number of folks who smoke has dropped by 8 percent.

Particularly upsetting is the number of children in Florida who live in poverty- that increased by 23 percent. And if you are black, you are twice as likely to have a low birth rate baby, than if you are a non-Hispanic white.

States were ranked by 22 health measures from infant mortality, to heart disease deaths, immunizations, violent crime, among other criteria. Unfortunately access to health care also falls along racial lines with 43.8 percent of Hispanics lacking health insurance compared to almost 18 percent of non-Hispanic whites.

While the healthiest state was Vermont followed by Hawaii, the states ranking lowest in the survey are all in the south - Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina, Mississippi and Louisiana.

The purpose of the report is to stimulate action by individual communities and public health professionals to improve the health of the population of the US. #

Full post as published by Jacksonville Personal Injury Lawyer on December 06, 2008 (boomark / email).