Oklahoma is nearing the bottom again when it comes to health.
The state comes in 47th in the 2018 edition of America’s Health Rankings. The report considers 35 measures of health, which include things like the number of health providers, state policies, and deaths from cancer and heart disease.
"Last year, Oklahoma was ranked 43rd, making it the state that had the largest rank decline, dropping four places since the prior year," said United Healthcare National Markets Chief Medical Officer Dr. Rhonda Randall, an adviser to the report.
Randall said the biggest gains would come from policymakers working to lower the state’s uninsured rate.
"You’re one of the highest rates of uninsured population in the U.S. You’re ranked 49th for that measure with 14 percent of the population not having health insurance," Randall said.
Individual-level changes that would help the state see big gains are losing weight and getting more exercise. Oklahoma ranks 48th in obesity rates, with 36.5 percent of adults qualifying as obese, and 47th in physical inactivity, with 32 percent reporting no physical activity or exercise other than their job in the past 30 days.
"We know there’s a strong linkage between physical inactivity and obesity with not only heart disease but also diabetes and cancer deaths," Randall said.
Oklahoma ranks 48th in cardiovascular deaths per 100,000 residents, 43rd in the percentage of adults with diabetes and 45th in cancer deaths per 100,000 residents.
There were a couple bright spots in the report. Oklahoma boasts the nation’s fifth-lowest rate of excessive drinking and the sixth-highest number of mental health providers per 100,000 residents.
2017’s 43rd-place ranking was the state’s highest since ranking 42nd in 2004. Oklahoma ranked 49th in 2007 and 2009. The state has not been outside the bottom 10 since 1996, when it ranked 39th.
In the first two years of America's Health Rankings, 1991 and 1992, Oklahoma ranked the highest it ever has at 32nd.
