According to the latest national survey by The United Health Foundation, Connecticut is the fourth healthiest state in the nation, up from 7^th last year.

The annual survey, America’s Health Rankings, identifies Connecticut’s low rates of smoking and occupational fatalities, and high immunization coverage among children as strengths. Challenges identified in the report include high rates of binge drinking, preventable hospitalizations, and large disparities in health status by education level.

“Connecticut’s rise from 7^th to 4^th healthiest state is excellent news,” said Governor Dannel P. Malloy. “While we still have more work to do to ensure that all people in Connecticut have the opportunity to attain their highest level of health, the Department of Public Health’s focus on collaborative initiatives on health equity, strengthening public health at the local level, and reducing chronic disease are moving us in the right direction.”

“Connecticut’s ranking as the fourth healthiest state reflects the work of many stakeholders who are committed to a healthy Connecticut,” said DPH Commissioner Dr. Jewel Mullen. “America’s Health Rankings shows we are making progress towards a healthier state, and underscores the importance of our ongoing work to address the challenges we face.”

Dr. Mullen said that the State Health Assessment and State Health Improvement Plan and Live Healthy Connecticut: A Coordinated Chronic Disease Prevention Plan, developed in collaboration with a broad coalition of partners, provide a blueprint for collective action to address some of Connecticut’s most challenging health issues and to achieve healthy equity. The plans include specific goals and objectives aimed at reducing rates of obesity, tobacco use, high blood pressure, falls, poor birth outcomes, prescription drug misuse, and others, by the year 2020.

America’s Health Rankings focuses on four categories of health determinants: behaviors; community and environment; public and health policies, and clinical care. Combining individual measures for each health determinant with the resultant health outcomes produces a single, comprehensive view of the overall health of each state.

America’s Health Rankings^® is the longest running annual assessment of the nation’s health on a state-by-state basis, using a comprehensive set of behaviors, community and environmental conditions, policies, and clinical care data to provide a holistic view of the health of the nation. America’s Health Rankings^® is the result of a partnership between United Health Foundation, American Public Health Association, and Partnership for Prevention^™.

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