State goals: cut smoking and obesity rates
There were some positive strokes for Tennessee in the recent report of “America’s Health Rankings” that put the state 44th among states in the nation’s overall health picture, but those items were overshadowed by poor ratings on obesity and smoking.
Tennessee ranked 45th in smoking and 47th in obesity.
Smoking and obesity cause diseases that are preventable and can prove costly in terms of individual funds and public health dollars. Improvements in college and public school education to build a work force capable of holding high-tech jobs could be shortchanged if some effort is not also put into improving the overall health of Tennesseans.
More than one in four persons in the United States are now considered obese. In Tennessee, that figure is closer to one in three persons (31.2 percent). Likewise, one in five Americans smoke, but in Tennessee, it is closer to one in four (23.1 percent).
Tennessee remains a leading tobacco state – third in the number of tobacco farms and fourth in the amount of acreage devoted to raising tobacco, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2007 figures.
However, the state’s smoking rate has dropped 7.7 percentage points since 1990, when 30.8 percent of the state’s population smoked.
In the last few years, the state has come out on the side of nonsmoking. Three years ago, for example, the state instituted the Tennessee Tobacco QuitLine, a toll-free phone number that offers professional help and other resources that have been used by 33,000.
The state also got tougher about the purchase of cigarettes by persons under 18 years old, and the Legislature passed laws restricting smoking in restaurants and public buildings.
While it would be great to get the rate under 10 percent, Tennesseans should look at the glass as half full – in this case – and realize how far the state has come in the last decade.
Obesity might be more difficult to bring under control. In the past 10 years, the report stated, the prevalence of obesity in the state has increased from 19.2 percent to 31.2 percent of the population. People do not have to smoke, but they do have to eat, and developing good eating habits can take time.
On the positive side, Tennesseans have a low prevalence of binge drinking (9.8 percent) and rank third. The percent of Tennessee children ages 19 months to 35 months who have immunization coverage is 83 percent and gives the state a ranking of fourth.
The percentage of incoming ninth-graders who earn their high school diplomas improved over the last year from 68.5 percent to 70.6 percent. The top state’s percentage is 87.5 percent.
Gov. Phil Bredesen wants to raise the graduation rate to 90 percent by 2012. That is an ambitious goal, but if lawmakers, gubernatorial aspirants and local officials remain true to their rhetoric about improving education, it can be achieved.
Meanwhile, the recent health rankings are an indication that state officials need to concentrate on more than merely improving graduation rates and exercise wise counsel and strong incentives for better health.
