Despite the fact seniors typically head south after they retire to enjoy the warmer temperatures and perhaps sharpen their golf game, the northern most U.S. states came out on top in a new study on the healthiest states for seniors.
Citing a long list of strong health benefits and high percentage of volunteerism, Minnesota came out on top of the United Health Foundation's annual report dubbed America's Health Rankings Senior Report for the second straight year.
The report examines the 50 U.S. states and ranks them in order based on which ones are the healthiest states for seniors aged 65 and older, the country's fastest growing demographic.
The states that rounded out the top five were Hawaii, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts, in that order. As for the bottom five you're steering away from during your golden years: Mississippi, which was the unhealthiest state on the report coming in at number 50, followed by Louisiana (49), Kentucky (48), Oklahoma (47) and Arkansas (46).
The research for the United Health Foundation report is based on 34 measures of senior health, including dental care, physical activity, availability of home healthcare workers, food security, prescription drug coverage, volunteerism, quality of nursing homes and flu shots. The data was gathered with the help of more than a dozen government agencies and private research organizations.
With regard to Minnesota's defending its title as "Healthiest State for Seniors", Dr. Reed Tuckson, external senior health advisor to the United Health Foundation explained, "Minnesota is great at a lot of things including dental visits. They've made dentistry for seniors a priority. They also have a high percentage of volunteerism. There is a culture there of seniors engaging with other people."
People in the U.S. are living longer and living more of their life in better health according to recent research conducted by the National Institute on Aging (NIA). There are approximately 35 million people in the U.S. age 65 or older, accounting for about 13 percent of the total population. In 1900, the number of older Americans was about 3.1 million.
With the aging of baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, America's older population will double by 2030, reaching some 70 million according to the NIA.
