You may have heard about a new effort to make Iowa the healthiest state in the nation within five years. Our state ranks #19 right now, according to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index.
While Iowa scores well in many areas, there is room for improvement. For example, obesity is on the rise in Iowa. Two-thirds of all Iowans are overweight or obese, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. Our obesity rate was 28 percent in 2010, a big increase from the 14 percent obesity rate in 1990.
A new statewide effort aims to turn this and other unhealthy trends around. The Healthiest State Initiative focuses on improving our overall health and wellbeing. If successful, it’ll mean a better quality of life for Iowans and a stronger economy for our state. Here’s why.
The World Economic Forum estimates that healthy lifestyle changes could mean an additional $16 billion over the next five years for job creation and economic growth in Iowa. That $16 billion results from savings in health care ($11 billion) and lost productivity ($5 billion) created by improved health. After all, about 75 percent of health care costs stem from preventable chronic conditions.
As we work toward making Iowa the healthiest state, I’ll be looking at what we can do in the Legislature to build on such past successes as ensuring that all Iowa kids can see a doctor when they are sick and establishing physical education and nutrition standards for schools. I hope we can move forward on making health insurance for small businesses more affordable, continuing successful anti-smoking efforts, and improving health care for all Iowans.
We can all help make Iowa the healthiest state in the nation by making healthier choices. According to the Urban Institute, 70 percent of the factors influencing our health are within our control to improve.
Check out the Iowa Healthiest State Web site at www.IowaHealthiestState.com. It contains resources we can all use to improve our health and wellbeing, such as a tool to calculate life expectancy and recommendations for improving eating habits.
