Where Does Your State Rank in Wellness

The last 2 years have impacted millions of people around the globe and paying more attention to their health. They are wanting to improve their mental, emotional and physical well-being.

The time has come for many where health is now a priority and maybe that is upside of the pandemic/plandemic, whichever way you look at it. According to the World Health Organization there has been a 25% increase in depression and anxiety globally due to the past few years as we are seeing a collapse in the economic, political and health sectors.

As the result of the uncertainties of our world many people are also fleeing to other states and countries where the environment is conducive to a healthier lifestyle. What about the U.S.?

Where are the healthiest states to live in the U.S.?

The healthiest places to live are states that are conducive to a healthy environment. The best and worst places to live were based on 11 metrics which included access integrative health practices (Google Trends), to nature and parks (National Park Service), and physical and mental health (CDC).

Where does your state rank?

Wellness points based on:

👉 Google trends data (interest topics related to wellness in the past 12 months)

👉 Park data (the percentage of state that is covered by national parks)

👉 CDC health data (general health, mental health, sleep and exercise)

The healthiest to the unhealthiest states.

The breakdown of the data.

#1 Consumer of Integrative health practices

There has been advancement in medicine for crisis and acute trauma care. However, Western Medicine fails when it comes chronic pain, stress and anxiety which cannot be explained by x-rays or other special imaging.

The number has increased where more people are seeking for a more holistic approach to their chronic maladies. This ranges from yoga, meditation, nutritional supplements, diet and mindfulness.

According to google trends, Americans top six searches for wellness included: healthy diet, mindfulness, yoga, vitamins, supplements and meditation.

With the convenience of telemedicine and online shopping integrative health options cross American borders, which makes complimentary health care easily accessible.

#2 Access to Nature an parks

Spending time outdoors is nature’s medicine. Swimming, biking, hiking, and running are exercises associated with outdoor activities that impact biomarkers for physical and mental health. Connecting with the elements of the earth tends to reset our circadian rhythm, which is our natural inherent process that regulates our sleep-wake cycle and repeats every 24 hours. Sleep quality is vital to our health, since a lot of healing and repair occur during that time.

There was a connection with the percentage of land devoted to national parks and overall health. Surprisingly, D.C. had the highest percentage of land set aside for national parks with Alaska and Hawaii to follow.

#3 Physical and mental health

When it comes to overall physical and mental health, what is considered is: exercise, sleep, physical and mental health. The data is from the CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which collects data over the phone on preventative health practices which include a myriad of topics.

Exercise was based on physical exercise done in the past month.

Sleep percentage was based on adults getting at least 7 hours within the past 24 hours.

Physical health was based no poor physical health within the past 2 weeks.

Mental health was based on the percentage of adults who reported no poor mental health days within the past 2 weeks.

CONCLUSION

When it comes to YOUR personal health, make a comparison of where you are now compared where you were 12 months ago. Are you worse or better? Now take the time to asses where you want to be in 6 months or even 3 months. Re-assessing your health frequently is the key.

As you can see from the data provided, this is far from perfect when it comes to which states are the healthiest because data collected in a 24-hour period or 2-week period falls short of an extended period of months or years.

What’s important to note is that sleep, mindset, physical activity, outdoor activity, healthy relationships, contribution and nutrition are all part of creating a healthy lifestyle.