Virginia fares well on health indicators

When compared with other states, Virginia does better than average on many health indicators. Some examples:

• The state's uninsured rate -- about 14.1 percent -- is near the middle of a spectrum with Massachusetts at one end with 7.9 percent uninsured, and Texas at the other end with 24.8 percent uninsured. Nationally, about 15.5 percent of Americans lack health insurance.

• 31 percent of Virginia children ages 10 to 17 were overweight in 2007, close to the national average of 32 percent.

• New cancer cases per 100,000 Virginia residents in 2004 was 436.2, lower than the national average of 458.2 new cases per 100,000.

• The state's teen birth rate in 2006 was 35.2 births per 1,000 girls, lower than the national average of 41.9.

• 73 percent of people 65 and older got influenza shots in 2008, more than the national average of 71 percent.

• Diabetes prevalence in Virginia in 2008 was 7.9 percent, lower than the national average of 8.2 percent.

• 16.4 percent of adults were smokers in 2008, lower than the national average of 18.3 percent.

• 49.5 percent of adults indicated they participated in moderate to vigorous physical activity, close to the national average of 49.2 percent.

Even infant mortality in Virginia, which for years would not budge, decreased in 2008 to 6.7 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, the lowest since the state started tracking it.

Within the state, however, there are wide variations in health status and behaviors by health district.

Smoking, for instance, is a much bigger problem in the Lenowisco, Pittsylvania-Danville, Mount Rogers and Crater health districts, where more than 30 percent of residents in those districts smoke.

The Crater Health District, with the second-highest smoking rate, also has the highest cancer mortality rate in the state. The Pittsylvania-Danville Health District has the second-highest heart disease death rate among the state's 35 health districts.

In the Arlington Health District, 43.6 percent of adults are overweight, compared with 70 percent of residents in the Eastern Shore Health District.

Diabetes prevalence in the Crater Health District is 13.2 percent, compared with 3.1 percent in the Loudoun Health District and 3.3 percent in the Alexandria Health District. One of the few things Alexandria tops the charts on is binge drinking.

Percentages are weighted to account for differences such as having a greater proportion of younger or older residents.

-- Tammie Smith