AU report rates Georgians’ health compared to other states

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Where does Georgia stand when it comes to good health? A new study from Augusta University is shedding some light on the matter.

The annual Healthy Georgia Report, released by AU’s Institute of Public and Preventive Health, gives a snapshot of how Georgians stack up against not only neighboring states but also the country.

The report is the only one of its kind in the state and has been delivered to state lawmakers.

One area where the state has fallen behind is obesity rates, Assistant Professor Bipab Datta said.

“It increased particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic. So, to be exact, we increased by almost four percentage points. So it’s a huge increase,” said Datta.

Last year, Georgia ranked 25th compared to other U.S. states with adults with obesity. This year, Georgia ranks 14th highest of all states with obesity in the U.S., with higher rates among young adults, middle-income households and women.

“We need to do interventions. You can just cut your sodium intake or sugar consumption or do regular physical exercise. So these are not very costly interventions,” he said.

With lower dental care rates and low rates of health coverage, Datta says it’s like a domino effect.

“We have the second lowest rate of health insurance coverage among adults in the United States,” he said.

The overall hope for the report is that lawmakers will use it to determine which areas need the most help.

“Together, we have to work on this. We will see a betterment through a change in our lifestyle and behaviors,” said Datta.

Highlights

• Compared to other states in the Southeast, Georgia has higher rates of unmet health care needs of children, childhood asthma and exposure to HIV risk.
• Compared to neighboring states, Georgia had lower overdose deaths, skin cancer, COPD, cancer, heart disease, smoking, childhood trauma, childhood obesity, diabetes and heavy alcohol drinking.
• Health insurance coverage for adults is lower in Georgia than the national and regional averages, but the rate for kids was close to those averages.
• Adults in Georgia without a high school diploma had higher heart disease rates than others, and those without a college degree were more likely to be overweight.
• The obesity rate is higher among Black Georgians than for their white counterparts.
• Hispanic Georgians were less likely to get colon cancer screening than Hispanics elsewhere in the Southeast.
• Smoking rates among Georgia women are comparable to the rest of the region, and the rate for Georgia men is lower than their counterparts across the region.

READ THE FULL REPORT:

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