The Rankings

Arizona

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Strengths:

• Low prevalence of smoking
• Low rate of preventable hospitalizations
• Low rates of cancer deaths and cardiovascular deaths

Challenges:

• High percentage of children in poverty
• High rate of uninsured population
• Low high school graduation rate

Highlights:

• Nearly 1.2 million people in Arizona are obese, 453,000 more than 10 years ago.
• The number of adults with diabetes has more than doubled in the last ten years; 543,000 adults now have diabetes.
• In the past year, the percentage of children in poverty declined from 31.3 percent to 27.3 percent of persons under age 18.
• In the past five years, smoking decreased from 20.2 percent to 13.5 percent of adults; however, 643,000 adults still smoke.
• In the past ten years, the rate of deaths from cardiovascular disease decreased from 292.0 to 218.3 deaths per 100,000 population.

Health Disparities:

In Arizona, obesity is more prevalent among Hispanics and non-Hispanic American Indians at 32.3 percent and 40.8 percent, respectively, than non-Hispanic whites at 23.3 percent. Diabetes is higher among non-Hispanic blacks at 12.4 percent and non- Hispanic American Indians at 15.4 percent than among non- Hispanic whites at 8.6 percent.

State Health Department Web Site: www.azdhs.gov