Strengths:

• Low infant mortality rate
• Low prevalence of obesity & sedentary lifestyle
• Low prevalence of smoking

 

Challenges:

• High incidence of infectious disease
• High levels of air pollution
• Low high school graduation rate

 

Highlights:

• Although fewer adults smoke in California as a percentage of population compared to other states, 3.9 million adults still smoke.
• In the past five years, the rate of preventable hospitalizations decreased from 63.1 to 51.9 discharges per 1,000 Medicare enrollees.
• In the past ten years, the rate of cardiovascular deaths decreased from 332.90 to 250.4 deaths per 100,000 population.
• In the past year, the incidence of infectious disease increased from 8.5 to 17.0 cases per 100,000 population.
• More than 2.5 million adults in the state have diabetes.
• More than 6.7 million adults in California are obese, and 5.4 million lead a sedentary lifestyle.

 

Disparities:

• In California, obesity is more prevalent among non-Hispanic blacks at 37.7 percent than non-Hispanic whites at 21.6 percent; sedentary lifestyle is more prevalent among Hispanics at 27.0 percent than non-Hispanic whites at 16.1 percent; and smoking is more prevalent among non-Hispanic blacks at 17.8 percent than non-Hispanic whites at 12.6 percent and Hispanics at 12.2 percent.

 

State Health Department Web Site: www.cdph.ca.gov