Which state ranked as the nation’s healthiest in 2016?

If you guessed Hawaii, you are correct. In fact, Hawaii has come out on top for five straight years in America’s Health Rankings Annual Report.

Rounding out the top 5 (in order) for overall health: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Minnesota and  Vermont.

America’s Health Rankings Annual Report is the longest-running annual assessment of the nation’s health status. A scientific advisory committee working with the non-profit United Health Foundation, analyzed data from trusted sources including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the FBI and the American Medical Association.

Nationally, the data showed fewer Americans smoke. Obesity remains a problem. Higher rates of cardiovascular and drug-overdose deaths signaled serious challenges nationwide.

“We have made important strides across the country against public health challenges; however, we are at a crossroads between a healthier future as a nation and a future in which troubling public health measurements become increasingly common,”  Dr. Reed Tuckson, an external senior medical adviser, said in the United Health Foundation press release.

Hawaii consistently ranked above the others because of low obesity, fewer people without insurance and low rate of preventable hospitalizations. The state also made progress in reducing the rate of diabetes from 9.5 percent to 8.5 percent of the adult population.

Washington State (7) and Utah (8) ranked among the top 10 healthiest Idaho came in at No. 15 and Oregon No. 21.

Southern states rounded out the bottom of the list: Arkansas (48), Louisiana (49) and Mississippi (50).

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