South Dakota Health Insurance

How Healthy is your State?

The Good News

• Strengths include a low violent crime rate at 201 offenses per 100,000 population
• A low incidence of infectious disease at 5.3 cases per 100,000 population
• High immunization coverage with 80.8 percent of children ages 19 to 35 months receiving complete immunizations
• A high rate of high school graduation with 84.5 percent of incoming ninth graders who graduate within four years
• few poor mental and physical health days per month at 2.7 days and 3.1 days in the previous 30 days.
• South Dakota ranks higher for health determinants than for health outcomes, indicating that overall healthiness should improve over time.

The Challenge for Health Care in your State

• Challenges include high geographic disparity within the state at 26.8 percent
• A high prevalence of obesity at 28.1 percent of the population
• A high prevalence of binge drinking at 17.6 percent of the population.

Most Recent Changes for Health Care in your State

• In the past year, the percentage of children in poverty increased from 14.5 percent to 20.0 percent of persons under age 18.
• In the past ten years, the prevalence of smoking decreased from 27.2 percent to 17.5 percent of the population.
• Since 1990, the prevalence of obesity increased from 10.7 percent to 28.1 percent of the population.