« RIPEC director steps town | Today | Man expected to plead no-contest in death of child »

November 5, 2007

R.I. ranks 11th in healthy study

If you’re worried about all aspects of your health – access to insurance, your likelihood of picking up smoking or dying on the job – Vermont is the place to be, according to the latest Health Rankings Report.

But Rhode Island isn’t very far behind, coming in at number 11 of the 50 states. It’s a two-step improvement from last year, when the state came in at number 13.

The study was released by the United Health Foundation, a research and community outreach organization funded by United HealthGroup.

Improvements in insurance coverage and a decrease in occupational fatalities helped propel the state up in rankings, even though, according to the study, the number of children living in poverty has increased overall since 1990.

The report made note of binge drinking as one of the big challenges the state needs to face, along with low high school graduation rates.

Other strengths, according to the report, are a low rate of uninsured people, ready access to primary care, and a low violent crime rate: 228 offenses per 100,000 people.

After Vermont, Minnesota, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Utah, Maine, North Dakota, Massachusetts and Nebraska round out the top ten states.

The bottom five in descending order are: Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

-- projo.com staff writer Brandie M. Jefferson

Posted by Brandie Jefferson  at 2:47 PM | Permalink

Comments

Post a comment

Please be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish.

Name:

Email Address:

URL:
Remember Me? YesNo

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)