Healthiest/Unhealthiest States in the Country

December 5th, 2008

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It's official. Louisiana has officially grabbed the Unhealthiest State Title from Mississippi. Mississippi shouldn't feel too bad though. They're now ranked as the 2nd unhealthiest so maybe they can win next year. The rest of the south didn't look very good either. Most southern states were ranked near the bottom of the list with Mississippi and Louisiana.

Vermont was ranked the healthiest state in the country for the second straight year. The good news is that it looks like we've hit some sort of bottom as a country. For the forth straight year, the overall health of our country has remained stable. This could mean that from here, we'll be improving after years of decline.

If you're reading this from one of the unhealthier states, there's something you can do: get healthy. It's a lot easier than you think. There's no need to become a gym rat or empty your fridge of all the food you're used to. Getting healthier means making small changes to many parts of your lifestyle. These small changes can add up to big improvements. Here are a few changes you can make that will bring some very nice health benefits to your life:

• eat more complex carbs
• eat more unsaturated fats
• eat less simple carbs
• eat less saturated fat
• increase your physical activity level without visiting a gym
• lose weight
• gain muscle
• get a free workout schedule

If you want to check where your state ranks in terms of healthiness, visit the American Health Rankings.