The Rankings

Montana

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Strengths:

• Lower prevalence of obesity than most other states
• Low levels of air pollution
• Low prevalence of diabetes

Challenges:

• Low immunization coverage
• High occupational fatalities rate
• High geographic disparity within the state

Highlights:

• Smoking has remained unchanged in the last ten years at 18.8 percent of adults; 144,000 adults still smoke in Montana.
• In the past year, the rate of preventable hospitalizations decreased from 67.0 to 60.8 discharges per 1,000 Medicare enrollees.
• In the past year, the percentage of children in poverty decreased from 21.0 percent to 19.2 percent of persons under age 18.
• In the past five years, diabetes increased from 5.7 percent to 7.0 percent of the adult population.
• In the past ten years, obesity increased from 15.9 percent to 23.5 percent of the population. There are 180,000 obese adults in the state.

Health Disparities:

In Montana, obesity is more prevalent among non-Hispanic American Indians at 42.3 percent than non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics, both at 22.9 percent. Diabetes also varies by race and ethnicity in the state; 14.4 percent of non-Hispanic American Indians have diabetes compared to 6.4 percent of non-Hispanic whites and 4.3 percent of Hispanics.

State Health Department Web Site: www.dphhs.mt.gov