If you live in a “healthy” state, meaning one of the fifty states contained within this nation, does that mean that you are living healthily or with a healthy state of mind? The answer might depend upon how the statistics for your state are gathered, the type of health statistics that provide the focus and how your state compares nationwide. Since the gathering of data within the U.S. is a fairly recent phenomenon, analyzing that data also is recent.

For instance, you may live in a state that contains more obese people than most. You might feel those statistics when it comes to health care costs on a local and regional basis. Or, you may live in a state that contains more cancer cases than most. This information might alert you to the possibility that your state contains more cancer-causing agents. Finally, statistics are available by ethnic data, which can clue you in on whether or not your ethnicity might provide an impact on your health.

The following ten infographic links lead to a variety of information about nationwide health including obesity, mental health and health expenditures. The information provided here represent just ten pieces contained within a mountain of information available on the Web. Each link provides more information on that particular site that may be of interest to you in your quest to become healthier.

1. State Data Center: Focused on identifying opportunities to improve, The Commonwealth Fund’s State Scorecard on Health System Performance assesses states’ performance on health care relative to achievable benchmarks for 38 indicators of access, quality, costs, and health outcomes. The 2009 State Scorecard paints a picture of health care systems under stress, with deteriorating health insurance coverage for adults and rising health care costs.
2. State-by-State Pandemic Information: Each state on this map contains information about the state’s pandemic plan, summit materials, formal agreements, and other pandemic information pertaining to the state. This information is helpful to individuals and families to help maintain life as close to normal as possible in the event that any emergency takes place. the links lead to information located at Flu.gov.
3. State Health Expenditures: Health Care Expenditures measure spending for all privately and publicly funded personal health care services and products such as hospital care, physician services, nursing care, nursing home care, prescription drugs, etc., by state of residence. Hospital spending is included and reflects the total net revenue (gross charges less contractual adjustments, bad debts, and charity care). Costs such as insurance program administration, research, and construction expenses are not included in this total.
4. Healthy Behavior by State: The 2009 Healthy Behavior Sub-Index is one of six sub-indexes that make up the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, and asks Americans four questions: do you smoke; did you eat healthy all day yesterday; in the last seven days, on how many days did you exercise for 30 minutes or more; and in the last seven days, on how many days did you have five or more servings of fruits and vegetables. The Healthy Behavior Sub-Index scores for the nation and for each state are calculated based on a scale from 0 to 100, where 100 would be a perfect score.
5. Obesity Related Statistics in America: Obesity is the number two cause of preventable death in the United States, and over 60 million Americans, age 20 and older, are obese. Additionally, nine million children and teens ages 6-19 are overweight. The charts and maps on this page can reveal how prevalent obesity is across this nation, with a special focus on a variety of images by state numbers for obesity.
6. American Indian and Alaska Native Heart Disease and Stroke Fact Sheet: This information focuses on a specific ethnic population nationwide, with statistics that focus on the information that heart disease is the first and stroke the sixth leading cause of death Among American Indians and Alaska Natives. The highest heart disease death rates are located primarily in South Dakota and North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Counties with the highest stroke death rates are located primarily in Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.
7. Maternal and Child Health: While this title might lead a reader to believe that the statistics contained on this page are devoted totally to mother and child health, the material reaches into realms such as suicide deaths per 100,000 population by state, receipt of needed treatment for illicit drug use, information about adults ages 18-64 with histories of major depressive episodes and more. This information was prepared by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
8. State Occupational Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities: The Bureau of Labor Statistics offers information on a state-by-state basis about work injuries, illnesses and fatalities. Information was gathered from nonfatal cases of work-related injuries and illnesses that are recorded by employers under the Occupational safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) record-keeping guidelines are available for 46 States and Territories from the BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII); fatal cases of work-related injuries are available for all States, Territories, and New York City under a separate program, the BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI).
9. Leukemia Statistics: Leukemia is a cancer of the bone marrow and blood. The two primary types of leukemia are lymphocytic leukemia, which involves an increase of white blood cells called lymphocytes; and, myelogenous leukemia (also known as myeloid or myelocytic leukemia), which involves an increase in white blood cells called granulocytes. Leukemia can be acute or chronic. Acute forms of leukemia progress rapidly, whereas chronic forms of leukemia progress slowly, leading to different approaches to diagnosis and treatment. The CDC also includes information on this site for Lymphoma and Myeloma, available in the left column menu.
10. Mental Health Statistics: This map shows total psychiatric inpatient and residential treatment beds per 100,000 civilian population in number by state, 2000. The types of mental health organizations covered are State and county mental hospitals, private psychiatric hospitals, non Federal general hospitals with separate psychiatric services, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers, residential treatment centers (RTCs) for emotionally disturbed children, and “all other mental health organizations,” which includes multi-service mental health organizations, freestanding psychiatric outpatient clinics, and partial care psychiatric organizations.

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