People Are Living Longer but Not Healthier Lives

Advances in medical care have led to the proliferation of chronic disease and preventable illness, resulting in more people living with diabetes, hypertension, and obesity.

The 2012 “America's Health Rankings” report by the United Health Foundation (Minnetonka, MN, USA;) finds that while premature, cardiovascular, and cancer deaths have declined since 1990 by 18%, 34.6%, and 7.6%, respectively, Americans are experiencing troubling levels of obesity (27.8% of the adult population), diabetes (9.5% of the adult population), high blood pressure (30.8% of the adult population) and obesity (27.8% of the adult population). At the same time, life expectancy has hit 78.5 years in 2009, up from 76.8 in 2000.

Additionally, 26.2% of the entire population does not exercise, and 21% still smoke tobacco. While smoking rates in the five healthiest states range from 16.8%–19.4% of the adult population, smoking rates are between 23.1%–28.6% in the five least healthy states. Likewise, 27.2%–36% of the population leads sedentary lives in the five least healthy states, compared to 21–23.5% of the population in the five healthiest states.

For the sixth year in a row, Vermont is the healthiest state in the United States. Hawaii is ranked second, followed by New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Minnesota. The five least healthy states are South Carolina (46), West Virginia (47), Arkansas (48), and Mississippi and Louisiana, which tied for the 49th slot. States that showed the most substantial improvement in rankings included New Jersey (nine slots), Maryland (five slots), and Alabama, Colorado, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Rhode Island (three slots).

“As a nation, we’ve made extraordinary gains in longevity over the past decades, but as individuals we are regressing in our health,” said Reed Tuckson, MD, medical adviser of United Health Foundation, and executive vice president and chief of medical affairs at UnitedHealth Group (Minneapolis, MN, USA). “We owe this progress not only to medical breakthroughs, but to public health advocates who are working tirelessly to advance wellness on the community level. But our public health heroes cannot do it alone. Longer lives need not be sicker lives, so we must all come together to do more to prevent the risk factors within our personal control.”

“High prevalence of sedentary behavior, obesity, diabetes, and hypertension means that a freight train of preventable chronic illnesses is going to crash into our health care system unless we take action now,” added Dr. Tuckson. “This trend is already affecting individuals’ lives and the system as a whole, but it will be devastating if left unchecked. We—as citizens, public health advocates, employers, employees, and family members—need to address unhealthy behaviors today if we want to save our children from a lifetime of needless pain and expense. As important as access to quality medical care is to our health, the way too many people are living today is actually the biggest risk to their health.”

Related Links:
United Health Foundation
UnitedHealth Group