Binge drinking cited as one reason for Colorado's drop in health rankings

By Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published December 3, 2008 at 3:22 p.m.
Updated December 3, 2008 at 3:22 p.m.

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An upswing in binge drinking and in health disparities between races are two reasons why Colorado fell three spots to number 19 in the latest report of state-by-state health by America's Health Rankings.

The national group praised Colorado for continuing to have the lowest obesity rate in the nation. At an adult obesity rate of 19.3 percent, Colorado is the only state in the union in which fewer than one in five adults is obese.

Still, Colorado's obesity rate was 6.9 percent in 1990, and almost three times that rate this year.

AHR also cited Colorado for a nice boost in per capita spending on public health in 2008 — to $74 a person.

But Colorado scored poorly in the disparity in health outcomes and health access, by race, ethnicity and geography.

Just two other states had a larger disparity than Colorado's 18 percent difference in outcomes based on where people lived — rural vs. urban, ethnic vs. white neighborhoods, and the like.

Blacks are 28 percent more likely to die of heart-related diseases than whites in Colorado. And while almost half the Hispanics in Colorado lack health insurance, only one in eight non-Hispanic whites are without the insurance.

Colorado had a decline in smoking in two of the past three years, as was reported in this morning's Rocky Mountain News, but it had a slight upswing this year over last — from 17.9 percent of the adult population last year to 18.7 percent this year.

In that category, Colorado moved from the ninth best state to the 15th best state, according to the report.

Some 46 million Americans currently are without health insurance, including one in six Coloradans, a rate that makes Colorado the 15th worst state in that category.

Also on the negative side, Colorado saw a dip in its high school graduation rate — just 76.7 percent of 2004 ninth-graders graduated four years later.

And binge drinking bumped up this year in Colorado, with 16.8 percent of those surveyed here saying they'd engaged in it, ranking the state in the bingeing-est third of the nation.

On the plus side:

- The prevalence of childhood poverty in Colorado fell to about one in eight children this year, putting the state at the ninth lowest rate nationwide.

- Colorado's air pollution, as measured by fine particles in the air, is the sixth lowest — that is, best — in the nation.

Colorado also ranked in the best six for having low numbers in:

- Poor physical health days — fourth best

- Cardiovascular deaths — fourth best

- Cancer deaths — third best

- Preventable hospitalizations — sixth best.

The nation as a whole didn't do well this year.

The authors of the report said the nation's health stagnated for the fourth year in a row, pointing to the rising obesity rate, the increasing ranks of the uninsured and risky health behaviors, especially smoking.

Health measures improved by 1.5 percent a year through the 1990s, according to United Health Foundation, which commissions the yearly study along with American Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention.

Since 2004, there has been no improvement.

Vermont ranked as the healthiest state for the second year in a row, cited for its low obesity rate, good access to primary care, low non-insured rate, boost in public health funding and high immunization coverage, among other factors.

Hawaii ranked as second best, followed by New Hampshire, Minnesota and Utah, which again had the lowest smoking rate in the nation, thanks to the influence of the Mormon Church.

The bottom five were Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, all of which struggle with low socioeconomic levels in their populations, the report's authors said.

The current healthy life expectancy in the United States is 69 years, ranking the nation 27th in the world. Japan is number one at 75 years, according to the report.

The United States ranks 21st in child-health ranking, a score derived from such measures as infant mortality and low-birth-weight babies and immunization rate.

And the United States ranks at the bottom among six nations compared in a category called "health care system performance." It is behind, Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, all nations that use the government to get closer to the goal of universal health care.

In the United States, twice as much money is spent per capita on health care than in those other countries.

"These statistics indicate that what we are doing as a nation is not working," said Georges C. Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. "We know improvement is possible because other nations have achieved far better health outcomes at less cost."

• December 3, 2008

  3:50 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Hope writes:

  wow honey....chill out and have a drink!!

• December 3, 2008

  4:52 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  BRM writes:

  Wow, what a disgusting person Honey must be!

• December 3, 2008

  4:54 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  HopiMedicineMan writes:

  Health is dependent on metaphysics. Coloradans have been embracing native faith and are becoming healthy as the ancients.
  Trouble is, it's the sons of the ancients whose health is suffering today. Alcohol decimated the Indian as if it were a nuclear weapon.

• December 3, 2008

  6:01 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  ktbelievable writes:

  What a stupid study, article, and excuse!

  Heres an idea....STOP WATCHING HOURS OF TV AND GO OUTSIDE!!!

• December 4, 2008

  2:05 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  LoveConquersAll writes:

  Honey? if your going to be in here sharing your thoughts on topics, when you get an opposing argument, quit digging your head in the sand by playing the "thats not what i said" card....

  Your comment was deleted for OBVIOUS reasons!
  Ignorrance is bliss i guess!
  haha

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