Minnesota is losing its healthiness

Minnesota loves a chance to pat itself on the back and in the last few decades, the health ranking of states has given us every opportunity. In the ranking released earlier this month, Minnesota is in the top 10 again.

But there's another side of the story: We're slipping from our once lofty perch.

In some previous years, Minnesota was #1. A lot. Now? It's #7. Nice, but not very Minnesota of us.

Only three other states -- Oregon, Alaska, and Wyoming -- have slipped more spots on the list than Minnesota.

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We still pretty much rule in the categories of low cardiovascular death rate, the low percentage of uninsured people, and the low prevalence of frequent mental "distress," the survey said.

But the rate of vaccinations, the excessive amount of drinking, and the high incidence of pertussis has knocked us down a peg or four. In fact, we're #46 when it comes to drinking. And we're #48 in the immunization of children. Nationally, the percentage of immunized children is going up.

How is it we're losing our healthy mojo?

Says the report:

* In the past two years, obesity increased 9% from 26.1% to 28.4% of adults

* In the past five years, salmonella increased 17% from 13.6 to 15.9 cases per 100,000 population

* In the past three years, meningococcal immunization increased 32% from 66.3% to 87.5% of adolescents aged 13 to 17

* In the past 10 years, drug deaths increased 100% from 5.4 to 10.8 deaths per 100,000 population

* In the past five years, infant mortality increased 11% from 4.6 to 5.1 deaths per 1,000 live births

On the positive side, the number of children in poverty has decreased 19% over the last five years.

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Minnesota is losing its healthiness

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