Dayton Business Journal...
Ohio becoming less healthy, drops in annual ranking
by Laura Englehart
Friday, December 9, 2011 

Ohio dipped this year in an annual health ranking by the United Health Foundation, which a UnitedHealthcare executive says points to a need for more employee wellness programs. 

Ohio ranked 36th nationwide in 2011 for its overall health, sliding from 33rd in 2010. Notably, the foundation reports that diabetes and obesity have jumped in numbers, and smoking increased 2 percent. 

“These results that you see are alarming,” said Kurt Lewis, UnitedHealth executive director for southwest Ohio and Kentucky. “But they’re encouraging from the strategy point to say that it’s a real problem and to continue to focus on this.” 

Employers increasingly have implemented employee wellness programs that incent workers to lead healthier lives, but Lewis said those programs require more time to make an impact on the overall health of Ohio. 

In the past decade, obesity jumped from 22 percent to 30 percent of adults with more than 2.6 million adults in Ohio who are obese. And since 2006, diabetes has increased from 8 percent to 10 percent of adults. Nearly 889,000 adults live with diabetes, according to the health foundation. 

Lewis said many employee programs focus on obesity and diabetes, and companies without programs should consider implementing some wellness initiatives. 

“The employer is at a unique advantage to start and drive some of these well-being initiatives,” he said. 

For those without programs, providing annual health screenings is a good place to start, Lewis said, because it helps identify employees at risk for diabetes or other health problems, such as high blood pressure. 

“As an employer, you never know. There are 911s — people who are at risk — that have no idea,” he said. 

The health foundation ranking gleaned some positives for Ohio where immunizations, workplace fatalities and high school graduates were analyzed. 

Ohio ranked 8th in the nation for occupational deaths per 10,000 workers with 3.2 in 2011. It ranked 16th for immunization coverage for children 19 to 35 months old and 19th for the percent of incoming ninth-graders who graduate in four years. 

United Health Foundation is supported by UnitedHealth Group, which provides health benefits and services worldwide through subsidiaries UnitedHealthcare and Optum. 

The most-healthy U.S. state was Vermont, followed by New Hampshire and Connecticut. On the other end of the spectrum, the bottom state was Mississippi, followed by Louisiana and Oklahoma.

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