The Rankings

Mississippi

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Strengths:

• Low prevalence of binge drinking
• High immunization coverage

Challenges:

• High prevalence of obesity
• High percentage of children in poverty
• High rate of preventable hospitalizations
• High infant mortality rate

Highlights:

• Smoking has decreased minimally in the last ten years from 23.5 percent to 22.9 percent of the adult population; 506,000 people still smoke in Mississippi.
• In the past year, the rate of uninsured population increased from 17.7 percent to 19.2 percent.
• In the past five years, obesity increased from 30.9 percent to 34.5 percent of the adult population, with 763,000 obese adults in the state.
• In the past five years, diabetes increased from 9.8 percent to 12.4 percent of the adult population; there are now 274,000 individuals with diabetes in the state.
• In the past ten years, the violent crime rate decreased from 349 to 270 offenses per 100,000 population.
• In the past ten years, the percentage of children in poverty increased from 16.4 percent to 33.7 percent of persons under age 18.

Health Disparities:

In Mississippi, obesity is more prevalent among non-Hispanic blacks at 42.6 percent than non-Hispanic whites at 30.4 percent and Hispanics at 35.4 percent. Diabetes also varies by race and ethnicity in the state; 14.5 percent of non-Hispanic blacks have diabetes compared to 10.4 percent of non-Hispanic whites and 8.7 percent of Hispanics.

State Health Department Web Site: www.msdh.state.ms.us