The Healthiest and Unhealthiest States

Forbes ^ | 11/17/09 | Rebecca Ruiz

[Clemenza]

States in New England top a new set of rankings, while the South still lags.

If you want to be healthy, live in Vermont--or at least act like you do. It is the healthiest state in the country, according to a new report from the nonprofit United Health Foundation.

[visualops]

Maybe we’re all unhealthy down here in SC but at least we aren’t suffering from liberal disease.

[Kenny Bunk]

Skip the flour, lay offa the whipped cream, and pour in the sherry.

[Allegra]

LOL - love it!

It also reminds me of hearing Walter Williams filling in for Limbaugh years ago saying something along the lines of, "Anyone who puts a perfectly good liver and kidneys and nice pink lungs in the ground at 80 or over just did not do it right."

[buffyt]

I would rather die young than live in one of those COLD states at the top of this list. Today in Texas we have 60 degrees sunny and dry and it will be like this until next summer. I love it. We are outside all the time.

[buffyt]

you can get low fat weenies and turkey chili~ LOL

[Allegra]

72 ounce Steaks for lunch every day can’t be bad for me or I wouldn’t get em for free over in Amarillo !

There's a restaurant here that does that. I do not have the courage to try, but there is a wall containing the names of people who have made that achievement.

I am impressed. :-D

[ansel12]

Now wait a minute . . . it is a well known fact that James Coney Island hot dogs are health food.

I used to buy them at the original store in downtown Houston, four chili dogs and a Hires root beer for a buck.

[TheMom]

That is a yankee hot dog. ;-)

[Huck]

And a coney island dog isn’t??

[Kenny Bunk]

Average female dress size in the US is 16-18, Dude. Our ladies are all hefty. It's true the sistas be pushing the envelope, but let's not be blaming all of this on Oprah.

But if your talking stats, it's the skinny gang-bangers who check out with lead poisoning at 18 that raise the big states mortality rates up into the unhealthy zone. I was visiting the geezer paradise of Tampa, FL two weeks ago, and they had 5 in one night! Miami? Has to be more!

Them fat ladies gonna be wailing at funerals for the youngsters for a good many years to come. Talk to your friendly nearby underwriter.

[IrishPennant]

Thanks for the ping...

I just made a quick run to the store and while sitting at the light leaving my development I realized that within a 1 BLOCK radius was a McDonald's, a Burger King, a Backyard Burger, a Zaxby's, a Taco Bell and an Appleby's, along with a strip mall with a BBQ joint, a package store, a Waffle House, a Pappa John's, a Honey Baked Hams, a steak restaurant and a Chinese joint. Oh, and an always empty GNC.

[Churchillspirit]

And how is California not at the bottom?

All the lovely sunshine.

[Wuli]

“The annual ranking looks at 22 indicators of health, including everything from how many children receive recommended vaccinations, to obesity and smoking rates, to cancer deaths. (The foundation is funded by the insurer UnitedHealth Group.)”

The survey does not “measure” actual HEALTH, it measures some statistics, some of which may only indicate possible and indirect health outcomes, or may not indicate actual health outcomes at all.

For instance, without measuring the number of incidents of an infant or primary school child actually OBTAINING an illness for which childhood vaccinations are given, along with the vaccination statistics, then the vaccination statistics alone do not tell you about “health”.

For example: You can have a state that has a lower than average rate of vaccinations - as some rural state’s may, and a state (like maybe Massachusetts) that has a high rate of vaccinations, and yet still have a lower rate of childhood infections of the diseases for which the vaccinations are given, in the more rural state - like Mississippi maybe; due to demographic circumstances (more likely childhood illnesses are spread where population density is greater).

Measuring only “vaccinations” does not tell you that you actually achieved a higher rate of non-occurrences of the related diseases. A rural state with it’s lower population density probably does just as well in the actual “health” area related to vaccinations, as a state with big urban centers and a higher rate of vaccinations; because greater population density usually translates to a greater rate of infections when an active viral condition does occur. They more aggressively pursue such vaccinations BECAUSE THEY NEED TO.

Other tests could be applied to some of the other statistics, and I imagine ought to be applied, before anyone takes the numbers too seriously.

[dragnet2]

Not too many fatties in the Bay Area, Orange County, coastal San Diego County, or even western LA County. Much like New York, the fatties are concentrated in certain "ethnic" communities and the rural inland areas.

My friend just got back from Ohio, and said he felt like a judge in a fat peoples contest..

[FrankR]

"States in New England top a new set of rankings, while the South still lags. "

I just don't know why the South is "lagging", the population explosion we've had here is from the mass migration from the north...snowbirds coming in by the flock.

But regardless of that, I'd rather eat what I want, and die younger than to live in Vermont, Rhode Island or any of those other snowbound bastions of liberal lunacy up north.

I idea that unless I eat like they do, it's unhealthy, is the biggest crock invading this (former) land of individual liberty.

I fail to see the correlation between liberals/government wanting us to eat stuff to make us healthier, so we live longer, and then want to send us to death panels when we retire.

You know what it equates to, don't you? To them, we cattle...beasts of burden to be kept healthy during our working years to generate cash for them, and then send to the abatitor during our non-productive years.

You will not be allowed to keep anymore of what your work produces than enough to keep you healthy enough to work...the quality of life that you dreamed up and are working for, will be gone.

So you Americans that support the kenyan, just chew your cud and bow...the rest of us are going to hold out on our liberties until the very end.

[TheMom]

Not a James Coney Island dog. ;-)

Maybe I should have said “That is a liberal hot dog.”

[Shimmer1]

Yankee ping

[dragnet2]

And how is California not at the bottom?

We've got things to do here, and were not sitting around the kitchen all day grazing...Ya know when it's constantly raining, snowing, or it's either 20 degrees or 105 and humid, people in those place tend to put on the feed bag and graze all day...Just the way it is.

[blam]

Take a look at the demographics of the leading states and you start to see some explanation.

I'll bet that if you convert 37% (Mississippi), 26% (Alabama) and 32% (Louisiana) of the population in the leading states to have the same Black population as the Southern states, you'll get the same results there.

[Wpin]

I have a hard time believing Vermont beat Utah...must be a faulty ranking system. There are more beautiful babes in Utah than anywhere I have ever been! The state boasts the most educated workforce, fewest sick days taken, and a hell of a great place to live, ski, relax, workout, and just about anything you can think of that is positive. What does Vermont boast about besides having Maple Syrup? Where the hell is Vermont anyway? Is it part of the Continental US??? I thought it was a suburb of some city or something. I know I get some dingy catalog that sells products from Vermont like Maple Syrup and such...it is about a 1/4 inch thick. Not much there evidently... :)