Newstrack: How’s Iowa doing on Healhiest State goal?

Background

Government and business leaders launched the Healthiest State Initiative in 2011 with a goal of making Iowa the healthiest state in the nation by 2016.

A big part of the initiative is the Blue Zones Project, which selects Iowa communities to get financial assistance from corporations to implement measures to create a healthier lifestyle for residents. Eastern Iowa Blue Zones include Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Cedar Falls and Waterloo.

What's happened since

Four years into a goal Gov. Terry Branstad set for Iowa to become the healthiest state, the index used to measure that progress continues to dole out a healthy dose of reality.

The latest state-by-state rankings in the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index placed Iowa 16th nationally when it comes to being physically, emotionally and mentally healthy. That was down from 10th the previous year, ninth in 2012 and seventh in 2009.

While the numbers point to the need for improvement, Jami Haberl, executive director of the privately-led and publicly-endorsed Iowa Healthiest State Initiative, said Iowa's overall score has actually increased. It's just that other states also are recognizing the need to improve health and well-being and have boosted their scores more than Iowa.

Alaska is No. 1 with a composite score of 64.7 based on five categories evaluating purpose, social, financial, community and physical activities. Iowa was only 2.5 points lower 'so it's a very tight race,' Haberl said. 'We have a little more competition out there than we had initially.'

But beyond the competitive quest to be No. 1, the initiative carries real-life implications for Iowans to live longer, improve their health, increase their productivity and lower their health care costs. Experts project better overall health could save Iowa $16 billion in health care costs and lost worker productivity.

That has Branstad's attention. The governor says the initiative's goal is rooted in the belief Iowans must take ownership of their own health and health decisions.

'I'm trying to lead by example on those issues,' Branstad told participants in last week's Older Iowans Legislature at the state Capitol, noting he has 'a real sweet tooth' but has cut out sugary foods and soft drinks from his diet. He also eats less bread.

'I'm really proud to say that in this process I've lost 16 pounds, I feel better and it's helped me not become a diabetic like my mother and like my brother,' said Branstad, who noted he drinks water and eats more fruits and vegetables. 'Those are pretty simple things. They're the kind of things your mother tells you ought to do.'

Haberl said eating healthy foods, reducing smoking and other high-risk behaviors and increasing physical activity are key to better outcomes. There are 'lots of great pockets of success' in communities around Iowa — which has 13 Blue Zone designations, the most of any state, she said.

'We didn't get to where we are overnight and we definitely won't be able to change that overnight,' she said. 'So it's taken us a generation to get to the challenge that we're in and it's probably going to take us at least a generation to reverse that.'

To raise awareness, Iowans are encouraged to participate in a statewide 1K walk on Wednesday to promote physical fitness. Last year nearly 500,000 people — or one out of six Iowans — participated in the event and this year Haberl said organizers hope to have at least one registered walk in all 99 Iowa counties.