Mississippi's heath ranking

From America's Health Rankings - 2005 Edition:

Overall Rank: 49

Change: up 1

Strengths:

• Ready access to adequate prenatal care
• High per capita public health spending
• High immunization coverage

Challenges:

• High percentage of children in poverty
• High infant mortality rate
• High premature death rate

Significant Changes:

• In the past year, the incidence of infectious disease decreased by 13%
• In the past year, the percentage of children in poverty increased by 15%
• Since 1990, the prevalence of obesity increased by 106%
• Since 1990, the prevalence of smoking declined by 24%
• Ranking: Mississippi is 49^th this year; it was 50^th in 2005.

Strengths:

Strengths include ready access to adequate prenatal care with 81.3 percent of pregnant women receiving adequate prenatal care, high per capita public health spending at $197 per person and high immunization coverage with 83.6 percent of children ages 19 to 35 months receiving complete immunizations.

Challenges:

Mississippi is among the bottom five states on eight of the 18 measures. Challenges include a high percentage of children in poverty at 30.7 percent of persons under age 18, a high rate of motor vehicle deaths at 2.4 deaths per 100,000,000 miles driven, a high prevalence of obesity at 30.9 percent of the population, a high rate of deaths from cardiovascular disease at 408.1 deaths per 100,000 population, a high infant mortality rate at 10.1 deaths per 1,000 live births and a high premature death rate with 10,889 years of potential life lost before age 75 per 100,000 population.

Significant Changes:

• In the past year, the incidence of infectious disease decreased from 26.0 to 22.5 cases per 100,000 population.
• In the past year, the percentage of children in poverty increased from 26.6 percent to 30.7 percent of persons under age 18.
• Since 1990, the prevalence of obesity increased from 15.0 percent to 30.9 percent of the population.
• Since 1990, the prevalence of smoking declined from 31.1 percent to 23.6 percent of the population.

Health Disparities:

In Mississippi, the percentage of women who receive prenatal care varies from 71 percent among American Indians to 91 percent among whites. Cancer is xxxx (data not available).

Clinical Care:

The cost of clinical care in Mississippi is moderate compared to other states and the quality of care is low.

State Health Department Web Site:
www.msdh.state.ms.us/