The ten best and worst states in the U.S for a long and healthy life

The ten best and worst states in the US for a combination of healthy and long life have been revealed and California was not in the top five.

Hawaii ranked highest overall for those seeking a healthy lifestyle and high life expectancy, followed by Minnesota, Vermont, Washington, and New Hampshire.

Similarly, the states with the lowest life expectancy tended to be the states with the least healthy lifestyles and were mostly in the Southeast. West Virginia ranked last overall, followed by Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Kentucky.

Notably, California didn’t even make the top five healthiest states, ranking 14th for healthy lifestyle, but tied for fifth with Massachusetts and New Hampshire for life expectancy.

“Life expectancy” is determined by a number of factors, including medical care and homicide rates, but a study by the Society for Biomedical Research and Longevity, life extensionsuggests that general health also plays a role.

Hawaii was the only state with a life expectancy over 80 and also the fourth healthiest, according to federal data. In the photo, the famous Waikiki beach in Honolulu.

The study analyzed federal data from eight health measures to determine which states have the healthiest lifestyles and compared them to their actual life expectancies.

The overall healthy lifestyle ranking was based on federal data measuring the following: amount of exercise, proximity to parks and schools, fruit and vegetable consumption, hours of sleep, body weight, number of people single, anxiety levels, and state spending on outdoor recreation.

Although he found that there was a strong correlation between healthy lifestyles and life expectancy, there were also some exceptions.

Outliers include DC and Montana, where life expectancy was low despite appearing to have healthy lifestyles.

Overall, DC’s low life expectancy is explained by racial disparities and a high incidence of heart disease, cancer and homicide, according to the Life Extension study. DC is also a city and not a state, so it often appears wrong when considering data for the entire state.

Minnesota ranked second highest for living a long and healthy life. His life expectancy was among the highest at 79 years and one month. In the image, the Minnesota state capitol building.

West Virginia ranked last for combined life expectancy and general health. In the photo, his capital city, Charleston.

States where more money was spent on outdoor recreation tended to have higher life expectancy

On the other hand, states with inactive populations, mainly centered in the Southeast, had the lowest life expectancies.

The graph above shows life expectancy in the US by year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rates stagnated in the mid-2010s, but declined after the Covid pandemic, causing many people to die prematurely. Experts say the growing opioid epidemic is also to blame for the drop

On the other hand, Connecticut and New York had a higher life expectancy given the relatively unhealthy lifestyle of their inhabitants.

Montana, Alaska, and North Carolina had generally good health habits, but only average life expectancy.

The lower life expectancy in the poorest states has also been attributed to the worst health systems and more residents without health insurance.

However, those states also have higher rates of chronic diseases, such as obesity, which increase the risk of a myriad of other conditions, including heart disease and high blood pressure, later in life.

The life expectancy of the United States was 79 years and one month in 2020, according to data from the National System of Vital Statistics.

Last year marked the second year on record that it had declined, and a nearly two-year recession since 2019. Every state saw a decline in life expectancy between 2019 and 2020.

New York, which was hit hardest in the first year of Covid, saw the biggest drop, falling nearly three years.