Strengths:

• Low prevalence of obesity
• Low rate of preventable hospitalizations
• Low rates of cancer deaths & cardiovascular deaths

 

Challenges:

• High percentage of children in poverty
• Limited availability of primary care physicians
• Low high school graduation rate

 

Highlights:

• Almost 1.2 million adults in Arizona lead a sedentary lifestyle, and 1.2 million are obese.
• Almost half a million adults in Arizona have diabetes.
• In the last year, children in poverty decreased from 27.3 percent of children under age 18 to 24.7 percent.
• In the past five years, the rate of preventable hospitalizations decreased from 61.5 to 52.9 discharges per 1,000 Medicare enrollees.
• In the past year, the rate of cardiovascular deaths decreased from 218.3 to 210.3 deaths per 100,000 population.
• More than 900,000 adults smoke in Arizona.

 

Disparities:

• In Arizona, obesity is more prevalent among Hispanics at 31.0 percent than non-Hispanic whites at 24.1 percent.

 

State Health Department Web Site: www.azdhs.gov