We put up with a lot here in Minnesota: Winter, second winter, sometimes a third winter, spring maybe showing up, and, of course, the longest season of them all, road construction.
But, apparently all of this makes us Minnesotans a pretty healthy bunch: An expansive study spanning all fifty states that looked at the impact of disease on its population discovered that Minnesotans live longer and healthier lives than most of the rest of America. Things are good for us here in the North Star State; though the nation as a whole is not fairing as well and, is even lagging behind other less developed countries that spend less per person on health care.
Public health, and a healthy Minnesota
This study was published in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) in their April 10, 2018 issue. The study was coordinated by The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. The institute is part of an effort to quantify health on a global scale, and the study is known as the Global Burden of Disease study and ultimately covers 333 diseases and injuries, as well as 84 potential risk factors.
Minnesota as a state broke the top 5 for life expectancy, coming in fourth behind Hawaii, California, and Connecticut; though Gentleman of the state can be proud knowing that we will live the longest in the nation: Males of Minnesota came in first place for life expectancy at 78.7 years. Minnesota women of the state came in fourth for life expectancy at 82.9 years. And, everyone in the state can be proud because we lead the nation in healthy life expectancy, i.e. the number of years an individual spends in full health, at 70.3 years.
Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said, “Minnesota has a lot to be proud of and a lot to work on when it comes to public health. Our strong performance relative to other states is encouraging, but the report clearly shows big challenges that must be addressed. The nation’s overall health performance is poor when compared with many other countries, and if we want to turn that around we need to focus more on preventing diseases rather than just treating them. Closer to home, Minnesota has serious health disparities across population groups, and we need to reduce these disparities in order for all of us to be as healthy as we can be.”
Malcolm also added that the new study reinforces Minnesota’s reputation as a healthy state, but it also shows how much work still must be done to improve Minnesotans’ health. In particular, she noted that the study provides further evidence that the burden of chronic disease is a serious and growing threat to individual and community health as well as the nation’s economy.
The study also stated the top five risk factors that cause death and disability in Minnesota: The top risk factor in the study was cigarette smoking. Other factors in the top five included obesity, high fasting plasma glucose, high blood pressure and alcohol use. Low back pain was atop the list of health issues causing Minnesotans to live with years of disability, followed by depression. Study authors also cited dramatic increases in Minnesotans’ disease burden due to diabetes and opioid use between 1990 and 2016.
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