In late May, the United Health Foundation released America’s Health Rankings 2015 Senior Report. The third annual report, which focuses on 35 measures including obesity, chronic health conditions, food insecurity and levels of physical activity, ranked Tennessee 44th in the country for the health of its seniors, dropping a place in the rankings for the second year in a row.
Tennessee’s low rank could be attributed to multiple factors, including:
- High rate of physical inactivity. In the past year, physical inactivity among seniors increased 30 percent to 41.7 percent of adults aged 65 and older, pushing Tennessee from 39th to 48th for that measure.
- A rising obesity rate. Tennessee fell 10 spots to No. 34 in 2015, with 28.3 percent of seniors now considered obese.
- Bottom-five rankings for: preventable hospitalizations (46th), health status (46th), teeth extractions (46th), food insecurity (47th), home-delivered meals (48th) and hip fractures (48th).
On the plus side, the prevalence of chronic drinking dropped 29 percent since 2014 to give the state a No. 1 national ranking on that measure. Tennessee also performed well on measures of flu vaccinations (2nd), pain management (9th), and prescription drug coverage (12th). Although Tennessee still ranks in the bottom 10 for smoking, the state experienced a 14 percent drop in the smoking rate among seniors in the past year.
The full rankings are available at americashealthrankings.org/senior.
… And for Oral Health
Last month, in conjunction with the American Dental Hygienists’ Association national meeting in Nashville, the ADHA and Oral Health America teamed up to host free oral hygiene workshops for older adults at seven locations throughout the city. The Tooth Wisdom: Get Smart About Your Mouth workshops tackled a number of common oral health problems for seniors. Tennessee has received poor grades for oral health and ranked near the bottom nationally in