Wyoming ranks as the 17th healthiest state in the nation. The rankings from the United Health Foundation say the state has a low percentage of children in poverty, low violent crime rate, and low levels of air pollution. But the Foundations’ Bill Mandell says there are three main areas of concern:
"So 22 percent of the residents of Wyoming do smoke, that’s a little bit higher than the national average of 19.5 percent. There is also low immunization coverage for adolescents, that’s less than 60 percent, the number one state is 82 percent, so that gives you some idea of the ground you need to make up. And the third area of concerns is the availability of primary care physicians," he says.
Mandell says finding doctors is a national problem that is more acute in rural states. He adds that Wyoming also saw improvements in the rate of obesity and physical inactivity.