Strengths:

• Low geographic disparity within the state
• Low rate of uninsured population
• Low violent crime rate
• Ready access to early prenatal care

 

Challenges:

• Low immunization coverage
• High rate of cancer deaths

 

Highlights:

• In the past five years, obesity increased from 22.7 percent to 27.4 percent of the population; 360,000 people in Maine are now obese.
• In the past ten years, diabetes increased from 6.0 percent to 8.7 percent of adults; 114,000 adults now have diabetes.
• In the past ten years, the percentage of children in poverty increased from 8.9 percent to 17.8 percent of persons under age 18.
• In the past year, geographic disparity within the state decreased from 7.8 percent to 6.7 percent.
• Maine ranks higher for determinants than for outcomes, indicating that overall healthiness should improve over time.
• While smoking has decreased from 23.8 percent to 18.2 percent of adults in the past ten years, 239,000 people still smoke in Maine.

 

Disparities:

• In Maine, smoking is more prevalent among Hispanics at 23.2 percent than non-Hispanic whites at 17.6 percent. Whereas, obesity is more prevalent among non-Hispanic whites at 26.7 percent than among Hispanics at 21.0 percent.

 

State Health Department Web Site: www.maine.gov/dhhs