Strengths:

• High per capita public health funding
• Low rate of preventable hospitalizations
• Low rate of uninsured population
• Low rates of cancer deaths and cardiovascular deaths

 

Challenges:

• High prevalence of binge drinking
• Low immunization coverage

 

Highlights:

• In the past five years, diabetes increased from 7.3 percent to 8.3 percent of adults.
• In the past five years, obesity increased from 19.7 percent to 23.1 percent of adults. There are now 300,000 obese adults in Hawaii.
• In the past five years, the percentage of children in poverty increased from 10.0 percent to 18.9 percent of persons under age 18.
• In the past year, the rate of preventable hospitalizations decreased from 28.6 to 25.6 discharges per 1,000 Medicare enrollees.
• While smoking has decreased from 19.7 percent in 2001 to 14.5 percent of adults in 2011, 189,000 adults still smoke in Hawaii.

 

Disparities:

• In Hawaii, obesity is more prevalent among non-Hispanic whites at 19.3 percent than non-Hispanic Asians at 13.7 percent. Diabetes also varies by race and ethnicity in the state; 4.7 percent of non-Hispanic whites have diabetes compared to 9.6 percent of non-Hispanic Asians.

 

State Health Department Web Site: hawaii.gov/health