August 3, 2010 10 COMMENTS
Conservatism Is Bad for Your Health: “Red” States Sicker than “Blue”
Blue Texan over at Instaputz pointed to a couple of data sets, where I found an interesting correlation.
The first is Gallup’s ranking of states by ideology, according to the share of residents who self-identify as liberal or conservative. The second is this United Health Foundation ranking of states by the health of their citizens, according to a combination of 22 different metrics.
The ten least healthy states are all among the “red” states*. Five of the least healthy states are among the ten most conservative.
Nine of the ten healthiest states are among the “blue” states. Five of the healthiest states are among the ten most liberal.
Gallup tells us that in the United States, self-identified conservatives outnumber self-identified liberals by 22 points. In the ten unhealthiest states, they hold a 27-point advantage; in the ten healthiest states the gap averages less than 9.9 points.
You might be able to guess the one conservative state that has a healthy population: Utah! Mormons — 60 percent of the population — don’t drink alcohol or smoke tobacco. Utah also has the youngest population of any state, and, according to the CDC, Utahans are more likely to exercise than the residents 46 states.
Anyway, snappy headlines notwithstanding, there are obviously multiple factors in play — it’s not a causal relationship. There are demographic and cultural differences between the healthiest and least healthy states.
Having said that, there are certainly public policy components to this trend. “Blue” states have higher average incomes than “Red.” More conservative states tend to have higher rates of uninsured. Both are connected to their lower unionization rates — they’re “right to work” states. They tend to spend fewer dollars per citizen on healthcare overall, and more liberal states also tend to set eligibility for public health insurance for children at a higher point. Pregnant women in more liberal states tend to have more prenatal care. Studies show that prenatal and early childhood care has a lifelong impact on one’s health.
*I didn’t use the electoral map; I just split the 50 states down the middle and am calling the 25 that leaned furthest to the right “red.”
Joshua Holland is an editor and senior writer with AlterNet.
