Vermont called healthiest state, Louisiana last

[cali]

Wed Dec 3, 2008 4:57pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Louisiana has displaced Mississippi as the unhealthiest U.S. state and other Southern states were close rivals due to high obesity and smoking rates in new rankings that deemed Vermont the healthiest.

The overall health of Americans remained static for a fourth year, according to an annual report issued on Wednesday assessing a series of measures also including binge drinking, health insurance coverage, air pollution, infectious disease rates, crime levels and immunization coverage.

Many Southern states were clustered near the bottom of the rankings. The region has some of the highest rates of obesity, which contributes to heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some types of cancer, as well as high rates of smoking, which causes cancer, lung disease, heart disease and other problems.

<snip>

It was the second straight year that Vermont topped the rankings. It was followed by Hawaii, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Utah, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Idaho and Maine.

<snip>

Vermont, with the second smallest population of any state, had the third-highest public health spending and an obesity rate of 22 percent, four points below the national average.

It also had low child poverty and violent crime, a large number of doctors per capita and good high school graduation rates.

<snip>
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE4B276H20081203

[Xipe Totec]

1. Thank God for Louisiana, says Mississippi n/t

[MountainLaurel]

6. And West Virginia

Those states are always in a race for the bottom. I'm rather surprised that it isn't in the bottom 10 here.

[pitohui]

2. yeah well our food is better

they don't really live longer in vermont, it just seems longer

i am surprised about the smoking thing, since it is basically illegal to smoke indoors for at least a year and now the signs have gone up warning people that "cigarette butts are litter" i.e. smoking is basically illegal outdoors as well...so who the hell smokes any more???? and where would you do it, you don't even have basements where you can hide in this part of louisiana...

we have an impressively high murder/violent crime rate, i saw an article where we were classed right up there with south africa so i guess all that ain't good for the health either

[cali]

4. OK, your food is better. but it sure isn't healthier

and of course we have that invigorating winter air.

[pitohui]

jeez you can keep that "invigorating" winter air!

just the thought of it sends chills down my spine!

[depakid]

3. Curious how public health surveys also tend to mirror social capital indices

(granted there's some overlap in the indicators)

[cali]

5. what is social capital?

[depakid]

8. There are a number of takes on that- the map(s) come from Putnam's work

which is popularized in Bowling Alone.

From his site:

SOCIAL CAPITAL PRIMER

The central premise of social capital is that social networks have value. Social capital refers to the collective value of all "social networks" (who people know) and the inclinations that arise from these networks to do things for each other ("norms of reciprocity").

How does social capital work?

The term social capital emphasizes not just warm and cuddly feelings, but a wide variety of quite specific benefits that flow from the trust, reciprocity, information, and cooperation associated with social networks. Social capital creates value for the people who are connected and - at least sometimes - for bystanders as well.

Social capital works through multiple channels:

- Information flows (e.g. learning about jobs, learning about candidates running for office, exchanging ideas at college, etc.) depend on social capital.

- Norms of reciprocity (mutual aid) rely on social networks. Bonding networks that connect folks who are similar sustain particularized (in-group) reciprocity. Bridging networks that connect individuals who are diverse sustain generalized reciprocity.

- Collective action depends upon social networks (e.g., the role that the black church played in the Civil Rights movement) although collective action also can foster new networks.

- Broader identities and solidarity are encouraged by social networks that help translate an "I" mentality into a "we" mentality.

What are some examples of social capital?

When a group of neighbors informally keep an eye on one another's homes, that's social capital in action. When a tightly knit community of Hassidic Jews trade diamonds without having to test each gem for purity, that's social capital in action. Barn-raising on the frontier was social capital in action, and so too are e-mail exchanges among members of a cancer support group. Social capital can be found in friendship networks, neighborhoods, churches, schools, bridge clubs, civic associations, and even bars. The motto in Cheers "where everybody knows your name" captures one important aspect of social capital.

More: http://www.hks.harvard.edu/saguaro/primer.htm

[Vodid]

9. New Orleans Social Capital...

I don't know how it is in the rest of the state, but in New Orleans, it's difficult to go anywhere without running into folks you know. We are in the street, on the porch, hangin' out at the corner stores and neighborhood bars...and after awhile, you sorta know everyone...the friend of the neighbors' cousin and their auntie too. It's a bit like being a member of an impossibly humongous dysfunctional family. But to say we don't have social capital down here is just plain incorrect. All I can figure, is it must be the northern part of the state that doesn't know each other.

[depakid]

10. But do people generally trust each other?

and does the trust cross racial and ethnic boundaries?

For instance, New Orleans has a very high crime rate (crime is one indicator of overall social capital):

The number of crimes reported in the city last year, analyzed alongside population estimates, puts New Orleans head and shoulders above its closest peer, Camden, N.J., and nearly 400 other cities, according to the study by CQ Press.

The dubious honor will surprise no one in New Orleans. Even New Orleans Police Superintendent Warren Riley dismissed the murder capital title as nothing new -- though he also challenged the survey's methodology, especially its use of a population number city officials dispute.

In a rare news conference Monday afternoon, Riley seemed to suggest that the city's crime problem is endemic -- and thus perhaps impossible to correct.

"In the 1870s, New Orleans was considered, in the riverboat gambling days, one of the most violent cities in the country," he said. "Is it the water in the Mississippi? I don't know what it is.

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/11/new_orleans_has_highest_crime.html#

[RB TexLa]

7. Give up smoking, drinking and good food to live a couple of more years? I'll pass.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure they will love the last 3 to 2 years in the nursing home.