CARSON CITY -- A national report looking at the health of Americans found a slight improvement in 2006 over the previous year nationally, but Nevada, which ranked 37th out of 50 states in 2005, saw its position decline by one to 38.
The yearly assessment of the relative healthiness of the nation is based upon analysis of comprehensive determining factors such as personal behaviors, the environment in which people live and work, the decisions made by public and elected officials, and the quality of medical care delivered by health professionals.
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The annual report is produced by the United Health Foundation in partnership with the American Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention and includes a state-by-state breakdown.
The 2006 report found that Nevada's strengths include a low prevalence of obesity at 21.2 percent of the population, a low infant mortality rate at 6.1 deaths per 1,000 live births, and a low percentage of children in poverty at 13.4 percent of persons under age 18.
Nevada's health challenges include low immunization coverage with 66.7 percent of children ages 19 to 35 months receiving complete immunizations, a high violent crime rate of 607 offenses per 100,000 population, and limited access to adequate prenatal care with 66.8 percent of pregnant women receiving adequate care.
The low rate of immunizations ranked Nevada 50th in that category in 2006. The rate of violent crime ranked Nevada 43rd.
While Nevada's overall ranking dropped one spot this year compared to last, the state has improved since 1990, when it was ranked 46th.
The report noted several significant changes in Nevada:
• In the past year, the rate of uninsured population decreased from 18.5 percent to 17.4 percent.
• In the past year, the occupational fatalities rate increased from 5.0 to 9.7 deaths per 100,000 workers.
• Since 1990, the infant mortality rate decreased from 9.4 to 6.1 deaths per 1,000 live births.
• Since 1990, the incidence of infectious disease declined from 49.8 to 19.6 cases per 100,000 population.
