President Ronald Reagan once said:
"All great change in America begins at the dinner table."
Taking the quote literally, that is exactly what the Americans are doing. They are eating right, dropping the bad habits and picking up good ones every day.
A recent annual report released by the United Health Foundation, American Public Health Association and the Partnership for Prevention ranked the healthiest states of the country and also found that Americans are striving to be healthy, more than ever before.
The report ranked the states after collecting data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Medical Association, the U.S. Department of Education and the Census Bureau and the FBI. The ranks were given on the basis of percentage change in health insurance, obesity, physical activity, premature deaths, infant mortality, violent crime, diabetes, high school graduation rate, child poverty and preventable hospitalizations.
The report found that fewer people are dying from heart diseases and the percentage is 36 percent lesser than in 1990. Also, the number of people dying from cancer decreased 3 percent in the country. The rate of smoking was also down to 19.6 percent.
Experts are pretty pleased with the results.
This marks the first year since 1998 that obesity rates did not increase, making it "a victory of sorts," Reed Tuckson, senior medical adviser at United Health Foundation told USA Today.
"We are encouraged. Put all together, the big conclusion is that these trends give us reason to be empowered to do more. We're seeing it all across America - individuals and families are making the decision to be active, to eat a more appropriate diet, to stop smoking. We are seeing that people can do it. And we are encouraged by the work in communities to address these issues that compromise America's health and vitality. Now we have to do more of it," he added.
The 10 healthiest states of America are:
1. Hawaii
2. Vermont
3. Minnesota
4. Massachusetts
5. New Hampshire
6. Utah
7. Connecticut
8. Colorado
9. North Dakota
10. New Jersey
Check out the complete rankings, here.
While the present study paints a sunny picture of the improving health conditions of the country, another recent study by The United States Conference of Mayors had found that the rate of homelessness in some major cities of the United States has been climbing at an alarming pace despite a steady economic growth.
However, an active America can definitely beat all the economic problems looming over its head.
