Dec. 3, 2008 -- Vermont is the healthiest state and Louisiana the unhealthiest, according to the "America's Health Rankings 2008" list.

The list is a collaboration of the United Health Foundation, the American Public Health Association, and the Partnership for Prevention.

Here is the full list of the state rankings, from healthiest to least healthy:

Vermont
Hawaii
New Hampshire
Minnesota
Utah
Massachusetts
Connecticut
Idaho
Maine
Washington
Rhode Island
North Dakota
Nebraska
Wyoming
Iowa
Oregon
Wisconsin
New Jersey
Colorado
Virginia
South Dakota
Kansas
Montana
California
New York
Maryland
Michigan
Pennsylvania
New Mexico
Alaska
Illinois
Ohio
Arizona
Indiana
Delaware
North Carolina
Kentucky
Missouri
West Virginia
Alabama
Georgia
Nevada
Arkansas
Oklahoma
Florida
Texas
Tennessee
South Carolina
Mississippi
Louisiana

Vermont was also the top-ranked state in 2007. During the past year, the states showing the biggest improvement in their overall health score were Arkansas, New Mexico, and Kentucky; Texas and Montana showed the least improvement.

Americans' health on a national level didn't improve or worsen, holding steady for the past four years.The nation's biggest challenges include obesity, growing numbers of people without health insurance, and the persistence of risky behaviors such as tobacco use, according to the study.

The rankings are based on four components:

Personal behaviors including smoking, binge drinking, and obesity.
Community and environmental factors such as rates of high school graduation, violent crime, occupational fatalities, and infectious disease.
Public and health policy factors such as immunization coverage, lack of health insurance, and public health funding.
Clinical care factors, such as adequacy of prenatal care, preventable hospitalizations, and primary care physicians.

From WebMD

Good Morning . . .

That's cause we have the yummiest food here! Ouch!
Mississippi usually "beats" us...guess we "won" this year.

Michigan is almost in the middle. Guess I'll have to do my part to raise the ratings!

Yah, Bobbolink, Yay Minnesoda.......I will have to keep that in mind tonight as I venture out in the ~-30 or so with the windchill.

We also have the highest voter turnout in the nation almost all the time and this year was no exception. We had 77.3% turnout on Nov. 4. Now, ahem, if we could have just picked a senator on that date! I am getting some flack about *that*.

Happy New Year, all!

Bobbolink et.al. Happy New Year!!!

Just reporting in as to the adventure of Minnesoda living in winter......we survived the below zero temps and had a great dinner at our local hangout. The only peril we faced was 2 deer on the side of the road who couldn't decide which way to bolt in the blinding headlights. Fortunately, they chose the ditch, rather than the road.

In defense of Minnesoda voting.....and the only indefensible vote in mho......was that thing with the wrestling gov.........still tryin' to live THAT ONE down......

Mn's system is pretty darned good........paper pencil ..optical scannning...accurate and quick......and paper back up......all the questionable stuff is human error.....and we have enough of that to be up in the air. The vote is a tie.....it is...the real, big, darned deal is this......

If we were 100% sure that every vote had been counted and been counted accurately, then if one and only one vote separated the two, so be it. We would have a winner. The truth is, that is not the case. The count is not perfect....and it is so close, it is a tie. *sigh..........

Does anyone feel my pain???

Hello Bobbolink and Maryblu, I had to write something when I saw that your both form Minnesota. A cheesehead here. We're neighbors, but for whatever reason there are some of us who don't quite get along.........but I figured this is a perfect place to change that. Bobbi was nice enough to put out an invite on another thread to join The Golden Girls. So I've been reading some of the postings and looking at the January Accountability thread and thinking I really need to get involved like you ladies, but I'm not sure quite where to start and what to put down for monthly goals, etc. So I'll keep reading and getting ideas and start hopefully to get some good vibes going with my neighbors in Minnesota. A cheesehead on a mission.

Welcome neighbor..............My future SIL is a cheesehead too, for christmas I gave him a T-Shirt and sewed some matching sweat pants for him. My DD found the material in our local Wal*Mart store.
As far as the accountability thread goes, just type in whatever goals you'd like to meet for the month. It doesn't have to be what my goal is or anyone else's. Maybe your goal can be losing 5 pounds in January, I have trouble getting my exercise and water in so that's something I made a point of listing. Just jump right in with whatever priorities you have.

Florida is really bad

I'll be the first Vermonter here to say hi Honestly, I don't know how our state did so well, would the low population been figured in properly? Our state population is only half a million. We do have lots of space to bike and hike, for the months that we're not covered in snow and ice