Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 4, 1990 TAG: 9007040142
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ATLANTA LENGTH: Medium
Such are some of the findings of the Behavioral Risk Factor Survey, a 36-state effort to measure America's nasty health habits.
The survey, conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and participating state health departments, asked Americans about the things they do to jeopardize their health, such as smoking, staying fat, going on drinking binges and sitting on their seat belts.
The CDC, in reporting the results this week, said unhealthy behavior patterns vary considerably from state to state. That was indeed the case in the 1988 survey of 36 states and the District of Columbia.
For instance: In Kentucky, 34 percent surveyed reported they were smokers - worst among the states. But just 1 percent reported drinking too much, best in the nation.
"For drinking, this is a very conservative state, with a lot of religious conservatives. Alcohol has consistently been frowned upon, and that has a lot to do with it," said Phyllis Skonicki, manager of the Health Promotion Branch for the Kentucky Department of Health Services.
"The tobacco issue is something else in Kentucky," she said. "We're one of the largest [tobacco] growing states in the nation. . . . From the smallest farm to the largest, you're going to find some tobacco."
In Wisconsin, 28 percent were overweight, according to the CDC. Twenty-five percent reported "binge drinking" - five or more drinks in a sitting in the month before the survey - and 6 percent admitted drinking and driving.
In those categories, Wisconsin was worst among the states.
"As far as for weight, it's really a Midwestern thing," said Michael Soref, coordinator of the Wisconsin survey. "Whatever it is that makes the Midwest high on that . . . applies to Wisconsin, too."
Other survey extremes:
- The slimmest state is New Mexico, where just 15 percent reported being overweight.
- New Yorkers don't have the inclination to exercise, or maybe they just don't have time. Seventy-four percent reported getting less than three 20-minute sessions of leisure-time physical activity a week. Washington state was best, at 45 percent.
- Tobacco is taboo in Utah, where just 15 percent smoke.
- Binge drinking is rarest in the nation's capital, just 7 percent. "Heavy drinking" - 60 drinks a month - ranged from 3 percent in North Dakota to 11 percent in New Hampshire.
- Seat-belt use varied the most from state to state - tenfold, in fact. Only 7 percent of Hawaiians ignore their seat belts, compared with 67 percent of South Dakotans.
- In Maine, 58 percent have had their cholesterol checked, and 41 percent have done so in New Mexico.
The purpose of the survey "is to provide states with specific data about their health behavior," said Dr. Eric Mast, a CDC health surveillance specialist. "They can measure their specific progress."
The next survey will have 39 states and Washington, D.C. The CDC hopes to have all 50 states and all U.S. territories soon, Mast said.
by CNB