This has to be one of the great ironies of modern America.
On the one hand, more people who have relocated in recent years are choosing to move to a Southern state. This may be due to milder winters, a lower cost of living or any number of other reasons. Whatever the explanation, the South’s population is increasing far more rapidly than other regions of the country.
But on the other hand, another trend also is clear. Newcomers to Southern states are moving into what is by far the least healthy region of the country. It’s not even close.
The Magnolia Tribune website cited a Forbes Advisor report that ranked the healthiest states in America. Southern states held the eight lowest spots: West Virginia was 50th, followed by Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama, Louisiana and Oklahoma at 43rd. South Carolina, Georgia and North Carolina were in the 30s, while Texas and Virginia were in the mid-20s.
Florida was the only Southern state that avoided the bottom half of the national list.
Mississippi’s 49th ranking is well earned. The Forbes Advisor story presents a litany of illnesses that afflict or kill too many of its residents:
• The highest hypertension rate in the country, including 44% of adults with high blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.
• The highest rate of adults with diabetes, 13.7%.
• The highest mortality rates for cancer, hypertension, kidney disease and stroke.
• The second-highest rates of diabetes deaths and heart disease deaths, and the fifth-highest mortality rate for chronic lower respiratory disease.
• The fifth-highest percentage of adults with a high cholesterol level.
• The fourth-highest obesity rate, at 40% of adults, and the fourth-highest rate of adults who use tobacco, at 17%.
Add all that up and it explains why Mississippi’s life expectancy of 73.6 years is the lowest in the country. Although in fairness, logic says that other Southern states with a low rating from Forbes have health problems very similar to Mississippi’s. Just not quite as bad.
The real question is what can be done to decrease the number of Mississippi residents with a chronic health problem, which would in turn increase the state’s life expectancy.
A Mississippi Department of Health official told the Magnolia Tribune that the agency offers a variety of programs and workshops to educate people on the value of a healthier lifestyle. Topics include managing long-term conditions like diabetes, cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis, asthma, depression and chronic pain.
The agency also has a new Office of Community Health Workers, which helps people deal with health systems and connect patients to medical resources.
But Mississippi’s health problems most likely are related to other measurements in which the state ranks poorly. Our low per-capita income, a low participation in the labor force, below-average education rates and a high percentage of adults without health insurance almost certainly play a role in creating our lousy health statistics. As does the willful decision by too many people not to take decent care of themselves.
The state has seen some improvement in recent years, particularly in its education scores. That must continue, and the economy must create more work opportunities. Over time, that combination would improve the state’s health.
