Utah looks healthy compared to rest of country

Study • Provo-Orem area boasts lowest heart disease, arthritis numbers among cities.

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Compared to the rest of the nation, Utah has some of the best health outcomes, even if pockets of the state have some of the lowest rates of practicing some forms of prevention.

The Provo-Orem metropolitan area, for example, boasts the nation's lowest amount of coronary heart disease and arthritis among cities. Maybe it's because the area also has the lowest amounts of binge drinking and smoking. But residents are also the least likely to get a routine physical checkup.

The annual rankings on various risk factors and health were released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The data were culled from the 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a telephone survey conducted by state health departments. Adults are annually asked a variety of questions about what diseases they are diagnosed with and about their healthy or risky behaviors, such as eating fruits and vegetables or smoking.

Summit County also stands out: It has the highest percentage of residents in all U.S. counties who moderately or vigorously exercise three to five days a week, at 67.3 percent. Among counties, it has the fewest residents with coronary heart disease, at 1.6 percent.

Heber City and Wasatch County have the fewest residents nationally who have ever had strokes, at 0.8 percent and 6.6 percent respectively.

Other measures:

• 10.8 percent of Utahns reported being in fair or poor health (14.6 percent U.S.).

• 85 percent had health insurance (85.3 percent U.S.).

• 57 percent had a routine physical checkup in the past year (68.3 percent U.S.).

• 67.5 percent had their blood cholesterol checked in the preceding five years (77 percent U.S.).

• 23.3 percent had five servings of fruits or vegetables a day (23.5 percent U.S.).

• 8.8 percent had binged on alcohol in the past month (15.5 percent U.S.).

• 25.2 percent were obese (28 percent U.S.).

• 38 percent reported getting insufficient rest or sleep for two weeks in the past month (39.3 percent U.S.).

To read the full report, go to http://1.usa.gov/pR3YxB.