Utah's lifestyle has earned it recognition as one of the healthiest states in the country in rankings tallied by Northwestern National Life Insurance Co.

Last year, the Beehive State was rated as fifth. In the 1994 rankings, it moved up slightly, to tie with Connecticut for third place. The best was New Hampshire, with Minnesota coming in second."The rankings are widely recognized as the most comprehensive of the relative health of the populations in all 50 states," the company's Holly Peters said Tuesday. The insurance company, based in Minneapolis, analyzed 17 components that encompass lifestyle, disease, access to health care, occupational safety and disability and mortality.

Asked why Utah's ranking improved, Peters said, "You were 39th in occupational fatalities; now you've moved up to 30th. . . . With infant mortality, you were 20th in '93, and you've moved up to No. 10.

"Those two were the biggest differences."

As in 1993, Utah was ranked best in the country in terms of smoking, which heavily influences many disease factors. It was also ranked as best in cancer

cases. Premature deaths is another category that improved, from sixth place to fourth.

Better ratings came in high school graduations, with Utah moving from 14th to 11th; employment, from sixth to first; and heart disease, from fifth to

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fourth. Areas where Utah slipped from the 1993 assessment were motor vehicle deaths, dropping from 20th to 25th place; violent crime, from 10th to 12th; adequacy of prenatal care, from 10th to 19th place; support for public health care, from 19th to 20th; infectious disease, from 31st to 32nd, and total mortality, from first to second.

Americans' health improved an estimated 2.4 percent since 1990, according to Northwestern. This is largely because of a decline in the prevalence of smoking, fewer deaths in vehicle accidents, better support by states for health care for low-income people and improved infant mortality rates.

"We're a healthier population today because Americans are making positive lifestyle choices," said Arlene Wheaton, project manager for the comparisons.

In April 1993, the same life insurance company released rankings for children's health. At that time, it rated the state as tied for 13th place among the states. The state's poor record in childhood immunizations was cited as a main reason for the relatively lackluster showing.

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