Most U.S. States Failing National Health Goals

Filed in archive General Health on October 24, 2007

Could the state you live in do more to ensure women are getting routine mammograms, help fight against obesity and high blood pressure? Yes. Are they? No.

According to an article on MSNBC, a majority of U.S. state are making very little progress toward improving women's health. In fact, most are failing. The report lists the worst state to be Mississippi and the best state as Vermont. However, no states received a "satisfactory" grade.

Obesity rates were by far the most disturbing. Mississippi has the highest obesity rates, with 31.5 percent of women classified as obese. West Virginia is a close second with 30.2 percent of women considered obese.

"The nation as a whole and individual states are falling farther behind in the quest to meet the national goals for women's health," said Judy Waxman of the National Women's Law Center, which released the report along with the Oregon Health & Science University.

The groups looked at 27 measures of women's health, ranging from the rates of routine screening tests for breast and colon cancer to obesity and access to health care. The benchmarks were based on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Healthy People 2010 initiative.

"Overall the nation's grade was 'unsatisfactory.' Only three of the 27 benchmarks were met," Dr. Michelle Berlin of the Oregon Health & Science University told a briefing.

The three exceptions were in the percentage of women 40 and older getting mammograms, regular dental care and colorectal cancer screening for women over 50.

No state received a passing or "satisfactory" grade for women's health status. Only three states - Vermont, Minnesota and Massachusetts - were "satisfactory minus," a drop from a report in 2004 when eight states earned that mark.