Report: Vermont Is Healthiest State

Dec. 3, 2008 -- Vermont is the healthiest state and Louisiana the unhealthiest, according to the "America's Health Rankings 2008" list.

The list is?a collaboration of?the?United Health Foundation, the American Public Health Association, and the Partnership for Prevention.

Here is the full list of the state rankings, from healthiest to least healthy:

1. Vermont
2. Hawaii
3. New Hampshire
4. Minnesota
5. Utah
6. Massachusetts
7. Connecticut
8. Idaho
9. Maine
10. Washington
11. Rhode Island
12. North Dakota
13. Nebraska
14. Wyoming
15. Iowa
16. Oregon
17. Wisconsin
18. New Jersey
19. Colorado
20. Virginia
21. South Dakota
22. Kansas
23. Montana
24. California
25. New York
26. Maryland
27. Michigan
28. Pennsylvania
29. New Mexico
30. Alaska
31. Illinois
32. Ohio
33. Arizona
34. Indiana
35. Delaware
36. North Carolina
37. Kentucky
38. Missouri
39. West Virginia
40. Alabama
41. Georgia
42. Nevada
43. Arkansas
44. Oklahoma
45. Florida
46. Texas
47. Tennessee
48. South Carolina
49. Mississippi
50. Louisiana

Vermont was also the top-ranked state in 2007. During the past year, the states showing the biggest improvement in their overall health score were Arkansas, New Mexico, and Kentucky; Texas and Montana showed the least improvement.

Americans' health on a national level didn't improve or worsen, holding steady for the past four years.The nation's biggest challenges include obesity, growing numbers of people without health insurance, and the persistence of risky behaviors such as tobacco use, according to the study.?

The rankings are based on four components:

• Personal behaviors including smoking, binge drinking, and obesity.
• Community and environmental factors such as rates of high school graduation, violent crime, occupational fatalities, and infectious disease.
• Public and health policy factors such as immunization coverage, lack of health insurance, and public health funding.
• Clinical care factors, such as adequacy of prenatal care, preventable hospitalizations, and primary care physicians.