Friday, March 29, 2024

Texas ranks 31st in overall health

texas health infographicRising rates of obesity and physical inactivity threaten Americans’ quality of life, even as Americans progressed in several key health metrics in 2014, according to the landmark 25th Anniversary Edition of America’s Health Rankings: A Call to Action for Individuals & Their Communities.

Nationwide, obesity increased 7 percent from 27.6 percent to 29.4 percent of adults. Likewise, the percentage of adults who reported not participating in any physical activity in the last 30 days increased from 22.9 percent to 23.5 percent. At the same time, the number of Americans who smoke continued to decrease, declining by 3 percent this year, and has consistently declined over the past decade.

 

Texas’s Overall Health

According to the special 25th Edition of America’s Health Rankings, Texas ranks 31 this year when compared with other states. The 2014 report illustrates Texas has its share of strengths and challenges.

 

Texas’s Strengths

 Low prevalence of smoking

 Low rate of drug deaths

 High immunization coverage among teens

 

Texas’s Challenges

 High prevalence of physical inactivity

 High percentage of children in poverty

 Limited availability of primary care physicians

 

Key Texas Challenges Addressed by UnitedHealthcare Programs

UnitedHealthcare watches America’s Health Rankings closely to better understand the health of individuals and communities across the nation and in Texas. UnitedHealthcare has several programs to address the nation’s health challenges at a state level. These programs help educate people on living healthier lives and empower communities to take action to improve their health.

Two such programs in Texas are the Diabetes Prevention and Control Alliance and Play.Move.Score. – both created to address the problem of obesity in the state. The Diabetes Prevention and Control Alliance is a proactive, employer and community-based initiative of UnitedHealthcare in partnership with the local YMCA and a participating retail pharmacy.  Play.Move.Score. Youth Health and Fitness Program, which was created with UnitedHealthcare, encourages kids to exercise at least 30 minutes a day and to make healthy food choices. The program also provides weekly healthy take home snacks each Friday during the school year.

“For the last 25 years, United Health Foundation’s annual America’s Health Rankings has provided an invaluable look at the challenges and opportunities facing Texas and how the picture of health in our state compares with those of our region and our nation,” said Marshall Dawer, M.D., Market Medical Director for UnitedHealthcare of North Texas. “We look forward to continuing to use the report as a key tool for identifying and implementing solutions to our most pressing challenges and measuring the strides we’ve made to date.”

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