HEALTH & FITNESS

How bad is Hoosier health?

By Shari Rudavsky
shari.rudavsky@indystar.com
The City-County Council is considering amending Marion County's smoking ordinance to include a ban on smoking in parks.

We were bad last year and we're still bad this year. No. 41 both years. Yup, 41st in the annual rankings that the United Health Foundation compiles on states' overall health.

That means nine states did worse – and 40 states left us in the (cough cough) dust.

What puts us in that spot should come as little surprise. We smoke too much, we're too fat and way too many of us are obese. We rank 44th of all states on the smoking measure and above 40th when it comes to obesity, physical inactivity and diabetes, according to the foundation's report.

State Health Commissioner Dr. William VanNess, who took over the top position at the Indiana State Department of Health a year ago, has made decreasing adult obesity, smoking rates and the state's high infant mortality rate his top three priorities.

But health officials say the job of improving Indiana goes far beyond their offices.

"This is a not a State Department of Health issue; this is a state of Indiana issue," said Kristin Adams, the department's director of public health performance management. "There are some things that we can control, we can assist with, we can guide with, but business has a role in this, education has a role in this and families have a role in this."

Education has a clear impact on the most pressing factors, the annual report from the United Health Foundation shows. The more education a person has, the less likely he or she is to smoke or be obese — and by extension develop diabetes.

So improving high school graduation rates could put a dent in the dismal numbers, Adams said. The more education a person gets it, the more likely he or she is to secure a good job with health insurance, which gives them access to the preventive care they need.

"We need kids to graduate from high school," she said. "That is the utmost important degree we can get them to do."

Economics also comes into play. Healthy foods cost more than unhealthy ones. A recent study out of the Harvard School of Public Health showed the healthiest diet costs $1.50 more a day than the least healthy one. People who have to work multiple jobs have less time to engage in physical activity, which may explain why more than a quarter of Indiana's adults are physically inactive.

So Adams said the state is trying to encourage more local farmer's markets to accept food-assistance benefits from low-income shoppers. State and local health officials are encouraging communities to develop more walking paths to give people places to exercise.

Not all of the news about Indiana is grim, however.

The report showed that we have a high adolescent immunization rate. Indiana ranked fifth out of all states on this measure, better than we did on any other mark. Indiana also finished in the top 10 (ninth) on having a low number of cases of salmonella per 100,000 population.

And Indiana has made some progress on at least one measure. From year to year the percentage of physically inactive adults decreased to 25.9 percent from 29.2 percent.

Still, we have a way to go before we can enjoy a spot in the middle of the pack of states.

"We certainly do have big challenges," Adams said. "We are well aware of all the issues, but it is a systematic issue."

Call Star reporter Shari Rudavsky at (317) 444-6354. Follow her on Twitter @srudavsky.

The Top Five Healthiest and Least Healthy States

The healthiest states in the nation, according to the America's Health Rankings 2013:

Hawaii (#1), Vermont (#2), Minnesota (#3), Massachusetts (#4), and New Hampshire (#5)

The top five least healthy states:

Mississippi (#50), Arkansas (#49), Louisiana (#48), Alabama (#47)and West Virginia (#46)