Strengths:

• High rate of high school graduation
• Lower prevalence of low birthweight than most other states

 

Challenges:

• High incidence of infectious disease
• High prevalence of sedentary lifestyle & obesity
• High prevalence of smoking
• Low immunization coverage

 

Highlights:

• Air pollution decreased in the past five years, from 12.2 to 10.3 micrograms of fine particulate per cubic meter.
• In Missouri, more than 1.1 million adults smoke.
• In the past ten years, the rate of uninsured population increased from 9.4 percent to 14.4 percent.
• In the past year, the percentage of children in poverty increased from 20.5 percent to 23.1 percent of persons under age 18. Children in poverty was 12.5 percent in 2002.
• Public health funding, in the past five years, increased from $40 to $46 per person.

 

Disparities:

• In Missouri, sedentary lifestyle is more prevalent among non-Hispanic blacks at 37.5 percent than non-Hispanic whites at 25.7 percent; and obesity is more prevalent among non-Hispanic blacks at 39.3 percent than non-Hispanic whites at 30.1 percent and Hispanics at 29.1 percent.

 

State Health Department Web Site: www.dhss.mo.gov