UnitedHealth Foundation released its 2008 America’s Health Rankings™: A Call to Action for Individuals and their Communities earlier this month. The report revealed that the health of Americans has failed to improve for the fourth consecutive year. Key factors contributing to these results included unprecedented levels of obesity, an increasing number of uninsured people, and the persistence of risky health behaviors, particularly tobacco use.

The rankings placed Vermont as the healthiest state thanks to a low smoking rate (17.6%), slower rise in obesity rates than the national average and a low level of citizens without health insurance. Louisiana replaced Mississippi as the least healthy state. America’s Health Rankings analyzes 22 different health measures, which are a combination of health determinants and health outcomes.

In May 2009, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) American Fitness Index™ (AFI) will rank the top 50 most populous metropolitan areas based on similar data, but at the local rather that state level. ACSM contends that it is at the local level where changes and programs must be made for the greatest impact. AFI includes an analysis of community-level data that reflects on the resources, environment and culture of promoting physical fitness in each metro area.