Strengths:

• High rate of high school graduation
• Few poor mental & physical health days per month
• Low percentage of children in poverty

 

Challenges:

• High incidence of infectious disease
• High prevalence of binge drinking
• Limited availability of primary care physicians

 

Highlights:

• There are almost 680,000 obese adults in Iowa, and more than 600,000 adults lead a sedentary lifestyle in the state.
• In the past ten years, the rate of preventable hospitalizations decreased from 70.8 to 60.4 discharges per 1,000 Medicare enrollees.
• In the past ten years, the rate of uninsured population increased from 7.9 percent to 11.1 percent.
• Iowa ranks lower for determinants than for outcomes, indicating that overall healthiness may decline over time.
• Last year, the rate of infectious disease cases was 11.3 per 100,000 population; today it is 17.0 cases.

 

Disparities:

• In Iowa, smoking is more prevalent among non-Hispanic blacks at 27.1 percent than non-Hispanic whites at 16.4 percent and Hispanics at 15.4 percent; and sedentary lifestyle is more prevalent among Hispanics at 34.3 percent than non-Hispanic whites at 23.8 percent.

 

State Health Department Web Site: http://www.idph.state.ia.us/