|
Stat
Sheet: North Carolina Health Facts
Did
you know...
Minorities
are disproportionately likely to have lifestyle factors putting
them at risk of poor health and in fact die prematurely at
much higher rates than do whites.
People
who live in rural areas also are more likely to die of injuries
and/or to suffer from heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
More
eastern North Carolinians died prematurely from cancer, heart
disease, diabetes, stroke and unintentional injury than the
rest of the state by percentages ranging from 14 to 40.
Heart
disease is the leading cause of death in North Carolina and
in 1996 alone accounted for a fifth of all hospitalizations
and $2 billion in hospital charges.
Overall,
the state exceeds the national rate in stroke deaths, and
eastern North Carolina's rate of death by stroke doubles that
of the nation.
Tobacco
use accounts for 40 percent of all preventable deaths and
$2.1 billion in health care costs and lost productivity in
North Carolina.
Only
5 percent of North Carolina's schools are totally smoke-free
zones for all students, teachers, staff and visitors.
Among
adults, Center for Disease Control surveys find that 56 percent
of North Carolinians are overweight (a Body Mass Index (BMI)
of 25 or higher) and 19.8 percent were obese (a BMI of 30
or higher).
Only
20 percent of adults say they eat the minimum daily requirements
for fruits and vegetables, and even fewer participate in regular,
sustained leisure time physical activity.
In 1999,
North Carolina law enforcement officers made 32,454 arrests
for driving while impaired.
In 2000,
87.6 percent of children 2 years old had completed the recommended
vaccinations.
North
Carolina ranks 27th in the nation in the percentage
of residents covered by health insurance. More than 1.5 million
North Carolinians lack insurance, and another million are
considered uninsured.
In 1998-99,
15.5 percent of North Carolinians (1,527,540 individuals)
lacked health insurance at some time during the year. Nearly
half of those individuals were uninsured for the entire year.
In 1998,
for 67 percent of the uninsured, more than a million people,
someone in the family was working full-time, and another 11
percent had a family member working part-time.
Source:
NC
20/20: A Report About the Future of North Carolina. North
Carolina Progress Board: December 2001.
|
