‘Weigh’ to Go! Is New York Considered One of the Country’s Healthiest States?

One of the hardest things you can do as a working adult is maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Think about all of the things you have to accomplish on a given day. A full day of work, taking care of kids and family members, travelling from here to there; for most of us, early mornings become late evenings in the blink of an eye.

Now, try adding physical exercise and a healthy diet into the mix. Pretty daunting, right?

It's no small feat to maintain a healthy diet and exercise regimen in today's world, but entering 2023, a recent study makes it seem as though New Yorkers are living healthy lifestyles more effectively than most.

Get our free mobile app

Report: New York Ranks Among Top 10 Healthiest U.S. States

A story from ABC News 10 in Albany shared details from a study done by Forbes Advisor that measured the least healthy states in America. The study was done by gathering data on 21 metrics from the Kaiser Family Foundation and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The information was used to create rankings, from 1 to 50, of the least healthy states in the country. Based on data that was surveyed, New York came in ranked 42nd in the country, meaning that the Empire State has the 9th-healthiest population in America entering 2023.

The study weighed metrics that fit into three pre-determined categories: disease prevalence and mortality rate, substance abuse, and lifestyle habits and health outlook. The states were assigned a numeric "score" for each category, and the higher your score, the more unhealthy you were considered.

Here's how New York "scored" in this study:

• Disease Prevalence & Mortality Rate Score: 36.45
• Substance Abuse Score: 20.37 (4th-best)
• Lifestyle Habits and Health Outlook Score: 21.91
• Total Score (all metrics weighed and averaged): 9.00

Though John Denver would be disappointed, West Virginia was tabbed as the unhealthiest state in the union, with a "score" of 100. Forbes notes that nine of the top 10 least healthy states are located in the South, including West Virginia, Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, Oklahoma and South Carolina.

Here's how other states around New York fared in their health evaluation:

• Massachusetts: 46th (5th healthiest)
• Connecticut: 43rd (8th healthiest)
• Vermont: 38th (13th healthiest)
• Pennsylvania: 16th (35th healthiest)
• New Jersey: 41st (10th healthiest)
• New Hampshire: 36th (15th healthiest)

All of these metrics are subject to change, so if you set a New Year's Resolution for yourself to exercise more, or eat healthier, make sure you stick to it. The Empire State's clean bill of health depends on it!