Nevadans slightly healthier

Friday, Nov. 22, 2002 | 10:57 a.m.

Nevada is not quite as unhealthy a place to live as it used to be, according to an annual study.

The state finished 38th out of 50 states in overall health, rising above 40 for the first time since UnitedHealth Foundation, a Minneapolis/St. Paul-based nonprofit, began issuing its State Health Rankings in 1990.

The study gives each state an overall score based on indicators such as the percentage of the population that smokes, motor vehicle deaths, high school graduation rate, government support of public health care and rate of heart disease. Each indicator is also ranked.

Nevada has inched steadily higher in overall ranking from 1998 on. It finished at 40th in 2001. Drops in children in poverty, people without health insurance and days of work lost to illness helped boost the state to its highest ranking yet this year.

"This is definitely good news," said Carl Heard, clinical representative for the Great Basin Primary Care Association, a statewide group of clinics for low-income and uninsured patients.

But health experts said that the climb upward would go even faster if one indicator reversed its negative spiral -- state and local government support for public health. Nevada fell from 37th to 47th in this category in the last year, finishing fourth worst in the nation.

"If support for public health is declining at the same time that we're seeing some improvement in community health ... we would hate to see that lack of support continue," said Jeanne Palmer, health education manager for Clark County Health District.

Tom Eckstein, the study's author, said that eroding support for public health care is an area of concern.

A look back at previous years show that Nevada's health over time is a mixed bag, he said.

"There are a couple of indicators that are doing well and a lot in the lower half," he said.

One indicator that has improved in recent years is the percentage of the population that smokes.

The study shows that 26.9 percent of Nevadans over 18 smoked last year, down from 29 percent the year before -- and 35.7 percent in 1990. The rest of the nation is also smoking less, so Nevada has only gone from 50th to 45th in this category during the last 13 years.

"The tobacco issue is one of those that most impacts on health, since it is related to mortality, heart disease and cancer," Palmer said.

The health district official said that prevention campaigns funded by tobacco settlement money and the Centers for Disease Control, together with newcomers from states where smoking is rapidly decreasing, have helped bring smoking down in Nevada.

She said the passing of two Nov. 5 ballot questions limiting second-hand smoke shows the community's changing views on the issue.

Eckstein said that education to create healthier behaviors is important for Nevada, noting that the high school graduation rate and the percentage of pregnant women receiving prenatal care have gone steadily down over time.