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A new study to determine the most unhealthy states in America has revealed that most of them are in the southern United States.
According to the 21 metrics spanning three categories: disease risk factors and prevalence, substance abuse, lifestyle habits and health outlook used by Forbes Advisor in their survey, West Virginia, Mississippi and Tennessee are the unhealthiest states in America.
Not only that, the rest of the eight most unhealthy states are also in the South, including Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama, Louisiana and Oklahoma.
Only two northern states were listed in the bottom 10: Ohio, which was ranked ninth most unhealthy, and Indiana, the 10th most unhealthy state in the nation.
Some “highlights”…
West Virginia has the highest percentage of adults who smoke, the highest percentage of obese adults, the highest percentage of adults with high cholesterol, and the highest drug overdose death rate.
Mississippi has the highest hypertension mortality rate, the highest stroke mortality rate, the highest kidney disease mortality rate, the highest cancer mortality rate, and the shortest life expectancy.
Tennessee has the highest rate of opioid misuse and the highest rate of prescription pain reliever misuse in general.
Arkansas is the second worst state for opioid misuse among adults, has the second highest chronic lower respiratory disease mortality rate, the second highest percentage of adults who smoke, and the second most likely to report that they did not exercise in the past month.
On the positive side, the top five most healthy states in America are, in order, Hawaii, Utah, Connecticut, Minnesota, and Massachusetts.
Massachusetts has the second lowest diabetes mortality rate and the second lowest stroke mortality rate.
Minnesota has the lowest heart disease mortality rate and the second lowest percentage of adults with high cholesterol.
Connecticut has the lowest diabetes mortality rate, the fourth lowest chronic lower respiratory disease mortality rate, and the fourth lowest stroke mortality rate.
Utah has the lowest percentage of adults who smoke, the lowest cancer mortality rate, the second lowest percentage of adults with high blood pressure, and is the second least likely to report that they did not exercise in the past month.
Hawaii has the lowest chronic lower respiratory disease mortality rate, the the lowest alcohol-induced death rate, the longest life expectancy, the second lowest percentage of obese adults, the second lowest heart disease mortality rate, the second lowest cancer mortality rate, and the second lowest chronic liver disease mortality rate.
If you didn’t see your state mentioned, just check out Forbes Advisor and see where your state ranks when it comes to being healthy.