Of California’s 58 counties, Solano was ranked 31st in overall health in a nationwide survey, said Matthew Yi, media specialist for the nonprofit United Health Foundation, which annually publishes “America’s Health Rankings: A Call to Action for Individuals and Their Communities.”

That’s a four-spot improvement from the previous year, Yi said.

The study, after 25 years the longest-running survey of its type, was released Wednesday. It cited Solano County’s higher prevalence of both adult smoking — 14 percent compared to California’s average of 13 percent — and adult obesity, which was four points higher than the state’s 23 percent.

The survey ranked California itself 17th of the 50 states.

Among Solano County’s other statistics, it was 27th in length of life; 39th in quality of life, examining both physical and mental health as well as birth weights; 26th in such health behaviors as smoking, obesity, food, exercising, drinking, sexually transmitted infections, teen births and alcohol-impaired driving deaths; 31st in clinical care; 25th in social and economic factors, from education to employment, poverty, social support and injuries; and 22nd in physical environment, including air pollution, drinking water, housing and commuting.

“Nationwide, reduction in smoking and improvements in adolescent immunization and infant mortality are offset by rising rates of obesity and physical inactivity,” Yi said.

“Long-term analysis finds Americans have made considerable progress in avoiding premature and cardiovascular deaths in the past 25 years,” he said.

At 78.8 years, Americans’ average life expectancy is at a record high, the report said. And during its 25-year history, the report has recorded a 41-percent decrease in infant mortality, 38-percent drop in cardiovascular death and 20-percent decline in premature death. Cancer mortality rates in the United States have declined 8 percent from 1996 to 2014.

But obesity and physical inactivity rates are rising, which Yi said threaten Americans’ quality of life.
Nationwide, according to the report, obesity increased more than 2 percent in adults, from 27.6 percent to 29.4 percent.

“Likewise, the percentage of adults who reported not participating in any physical activity in the last 30 days increased from 22.9 percent to 23.5 percent,” Yi said.

“At the same time, the number of Americans who smoke continued to decrease, declining by 3 percent this year, and has consistently declined over the past decade.”

While Americans are living longer, the past 25 years have seen a steady rise in chronic conditions, many of them preventable, that compromise their quality of life, the report said.

“This year’s America’s Health Rankings is a solemn reminder that we have a lot more work ahead of us,” said Dr. Reed Tuckson, senior medical adviser to United Health Foundation.

“It is inevitable that increases in the rates of obesity and physical inactivity will result in more people suffering from significant chronic diseases that compromise the quality of their lives, adversely affect their families and are unaffordable for the nation.”

Dr. James Korkos, market medical director of United Healthcare of California, said, “For the last 25 years, United Health Foundation’s annual America’s Health Rankings has provided an invaluable look at the challenges and opportunities facing California and how the picture of health in our state compares with those of our region and our nation.”

California has a low prevalence of smoking, obesity and physical inactivity compared to some other states, but still faces the challenges of high levels of air pollution, moderate violent crime rates and a disparity in health status by education level, the report said.

The survey determined Hawai’i is the healthiest state. Vermont, Massachusetts (which improved one spot), Connecticut (up three spots), and Utah rounded out the top five healthiest states.

On the other end of the scale, Mississippi was ranked last in the 2014 survey.
West Virginia and Alabama, meanwhile, moved out of the bottom five. Ranked above Mississippi were Arkansas (49), Louisiana (48), Kentucky (47) and Oklahoma (46).

Those who want to review the entire survey may visit the website www.americashealthrankings.org.

“We look forward to continuing to use the report as a key tool for identifying and implementing solutions to our most pressing challenges and measuring the strides we’ve made to date,” Korkos said.