Healthy Life Expectancy report

[gailkate]

This info was cited in a MN forum by a fellow who jokingly said he didn't like seeing us come in behind the 3 states who outrank us. The data are from the CDC and reveal Life Expectancy (LE) and Healthy Life Expectancy (HLE) by gender and race in each state. Not surprisingly, MS comes in at the bottom no matter how it's cut. Sometimes I think MS is a 3rd world country (sorry Bookie). But other states also surprised me - for instance, "The largest difference in HLE between whites and blacks was 7.8 years in Iowa."

Anyway, you might want to look at the summary and then check out the states you've lived in and currently live in. I really like data but i'm not sure about some of the interpretations - and, to be fair, the CDC notes specific limitations that should be taken into account.

www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6228a1.htm?s_cid=mm6228a1_w#fig2

Overall, the chart and maps indicate that life expectancy in the South is lower than in the rest of the country with the exception of Florida. But HLE for blacks is quite depressed in a number of states I would think could do a better job.

[doctork]

These surveys are always full of interesting factoids, although there could probably be at least a three credit graduate level course taught on this survey alone.

IMHO, Arizona and Florida look a lot better than they "should" because most people there come from someplace else that is healthier. West Virginia showed no statistically significant difference between black and white HLE because there are only about 50 black people in WV, and they are all on the WVU football team. Well, maybe a couple play for Marshall.

Colorado and Hawaii always score well in most measures of healthiness, and having lived in both (and WV, FL, and AZ too, don't forget) I'd comment on some factors in common. In both states, there is a tendency toward a healthy active lifestyle. Both states have a lot of ethnic and cultural diversity, but theoretically it should work in opposite ways. Hawaii has a high Asian population, whose genetics and diet predispose to longevity. Colorado has a higher Hispanic and black population, who have a higher incidence of diabetes and obesity, which "ought" to reduce health and longevity. Despite that statement, Colorado has long been the "leanest state in the nation," and the only state to have less than 20% obesity in the adult population.

In Colorado, I suppose active lifestyle eventually triumphs over obesity and diabetes.

Hawaii has had another advantage for the past 40 years - "everyone" has health insurance. The state has had a mandate that all employers offer health insurance to all employees (there were/are a few exceptions), and until the Massachusetts law passed in 2006, it was the only state that did so, and thus the only state where consistently 95%+ of the population was insured.

I have not seen published data to support this, but being a policy wonk who has lived there, I believe this is a big factor in healthiness of Hawaiians.