Strengths:

• Low rate of cancer deaths
• Low rate of preventable hospitalizations
• Lower prevalences of smoking, binge drinking and obesity than other states

 

Challenges:

• Limited availability of primary care physicians
• Low immunization coverage

 

Highlights:

• In the past five years, diabetes increased from 5.5 percent to 6.5 percent of adults. Now 184,000 Utah adults have diabetes.
• In the past ten years, obesity increased from 19.1 percent to 23.0 percent of adults, with 651,000 obese adults in the state.
• In the past year, the rate of preventable hospitalizations decreased from 39.9 to 36.7 discharges per 1,000 Medicare enrollees.
• While smoking decreased from 12.9 percent to 9.1 percent of adults in the last ten years, 258,000 adults still smoke in Utah.

 

Disparities:

• In Utah, smoking is more prevalent among Hispanics at 12.2 percent than non-Hispanic whites at 9.1 percent. Obesity is more prevalent among Hispanics at 27.4 percent than non-Hispanic whites at 23.0 percent.

 

State Health Department Web Site: www.health.utah.gov