Toothless in Tennessee

As part of my continuing series on health data from the 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS), I thought I'd look at seniors who are missing all their teeth.  While this may seem a humorous topic, having poor oral health can open the door for bacteria and shave around 7 years off your life.

This map breaks the data by standard deviations from the mean/average.  So the pale, gray/white states' seniors are average -for the USA- in the percentage who are toothless.  The purple states have higher percentages of toothless seniors with WV, TN, MS, and KY having the worst data on senior oral health.

My friend Lee B. from Clinton, CT, used to tell me that people in Connecticut had great teeth.  Apparently she is right because the Nutmeg State and Hawaii have the most older Americans with their choppers.

Non-Smokers

To follow up on yesterday's post about which states have had the most success in adults quitting smoking, here is another map looking at differences between states in terms of non-smokers.  Utah by far leads the pack in regards to the highest number of adults who have never smoked.  The majority of adults in 48 of the 50 states have never smoked (see yesterday's post for which two states have more adults who have smoked than adults who have never smoked).

Where Have Smoking Cessation Programs Had the Biggest Impact?

In this continuing series on health data, let's look today at smoking.

The CDC lists smoking as the #1 preventable cause of early death.  Around 40% of people who smoke will eventually develop some type of health problem related to smoking.  Thus, smoking cessation and prevention programs for decades have -successfully I might add- greatly reduced the number of Americans to smoke.

In looking at data from the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS) of adult health behaviors, I was curious if there were any regional differences showing where smoking cessation programs have had the biggest impact.  And it appears the answer is YES! -specifically in New England and Arizona which so the biggest percentages of people who have quit smoking.  

Let's look at the maps individually:

In every state except two, most adults have never smoked.  Only in Kentucky and West Virginia do the number of current or former smoker exceed 50% (52% each actually).  I have kept the legend values the same on these 4 maps, however, for comparison purposes.

By 2010 the number of adults who smoke daily in every state is below 1 in 5 -except in West Virginia where daily smokers exceed 20% of the population.





Interestingly, most American adults who smoke also smoke daily.  Less than 10% of American adults report they smoke but only a few days a week.

This last map shows the key differences.  People in Utah are the least likely to ever smoke.  Thus, Utah also has the lowest percentage of former smokers -because fewer people ever started smoking.  In most of the rest of the country, the percentage of former smokers is somewhere between 20-30% of the adult population.  The key exceptions are VT, NH, ME, and AZ where a larger percentage of the population has stopped smoking.  All four of these states actually had higher percentages of adults who have smoked or currently smoke but have had more success in adults quitting.

What's Your Sign, Baby?

Here is a little map just for fun.  You likely know your zodiac sign based on your birthday, but did you know that states have signs too?  Yes indeedy, they do -based on their statehood date.  So let's look at Mama USA's children by zodiac sign.  

First of all, the good ol' USA is a Cancer "born on the 4th of July" as the song Yankee Doodle Dandy teaches us.  I have actually read, however, that some astrologers argue the USA was born the day the Constitution was ratified -and thus is a Gemini.  That would certainly be a sign fitting Blue State/Red State America with its twin personalities.

So let's look at the 12 signs and their states:

Aries:  Poor Aries!  There are no Aries states.  

Taurus:  Taurus Minnesota gives birth to the Mississippi River, and Taurus Louisiana watches the river empty into the Gulf of Mexico.  For an earth sign, Taurus states seem to like their lakes and coasts with Maryland giving us all those yummy crab cakes (but then they say the Crab and Bull get along nicely like surf and turf on a plate.) ;)

Gemini:  Gemini states fittingly dominate the Border States of the Upper South:  Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia.  South Carolina, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin are also Geminis.

Cancer:  Cancer is supposed to be the sign of motherhood and so it is fitting that Virginia, the "mother of presidents", is a Cancer state along with New Hampshire, Idaho and Wyoming.

Leo:  Leo rules theater and so it is fitting that New York's Broadway is in a Leo state.  Fire sign Leo also includes Hawaii's volcanoes, Missouri, and Colorado.

Virgo:  We only have one Virgo state, but it is quite a state:  California.

Libra:  Poor Libra!  No states for you either.  Perhaps we should create two new states:  one for Aries and one for Libra.

Scorpio:  Scorpio, the passionate sign of sexiness and secrets, rightfully is the sign of Nevada with its Sin City and Area 51.  In fact, Nevada's statehood day is Halloween!  Scorpio also has the USA's only twin states sharing the same birthdays:  North and South Dakota.  Montana, Oklahoma, and Washington state are also Scorpios.

Sagittarius:  Sags rule!  ...At least in terms of the number of states.  Eight states are Sagittarians:  Alabama, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Indiana, Illinois, and North Carolina.

Capricorn:  Capricorn states cover the most territory with the #1 and #2 largest states -Alaska and Texas.  Utah, Connecticut and New Mexico make up the other three Cap states.

Aquarius:  Aquarian Oregon was actually born on Valentine's Day and shares the sign of Aquarius with Michigan, Kansas, Massachusetts, and Arizona.

Pisces:  Watery Pisces rounds out the zodiac with a bevy of Fish states:  Vermont, Maine, Florida, Ohio, and Nebraska.

...and Utah makes 18

Yesterday's ruling by Federal Judge Shelby overturning Utah's state constitutional ban limiting marriage to opposite sex couples opened the door to legal same sex marriages in Utah.  The District of Columbia and the other 16 states with legal same sex marriage vote consistently Democratic, but Utah is the first "Red State" to legalize same sex marriage.  Utah is not only a Republican stronghold but also the reddest of the red states with the highest percentage of voters voting Republican in Presidential elections recently.

The Utah ruling is also the first use the US Supreme Court's decision in the Windsor case.  Windsor is the decision which found the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional.  Judge Shelby's decision borrows heavily not only from the main Windsor decision but also conservative Justice Scalia's dissent. Scalia's dissent predicted that opening up Federal benefits nationally to married couples would spell the end of the state mini-DOMAs.

Let's look at the growing divide regionally on the issue of same sex marriage:

Percentage of States Where Same Sex Marriages Are Legal at the State Level
New England (MA, VT, NH, CT, RI, and ME):  100%
Mid-Atlantic (DC, MD, DE, NJ, PA, and NY):  83%
Midwest (IA, MN, IL, WI, MI, IN, OH):  43%
West (NM, CO, WY, MT, ID, UT, AZ, CA, HI, AK, OR, and WA):  39%

vs.

South (former Confederate states of TX, LA, AR, TN, VA, NC, SC, GA, FL, AL, and MS):  0%
Plains states (OK, KS, NE, SD, and ND):  0%
Border states (MO, KY, WV):  0%

Kentucky Lung Cancer Death Rates By County

Kentucky leads the country in the number of adults who smoke -a leading cause of lung and bronchus cancer.  Sadly, Kentucky also leads the country in lung and bronchus cancer deaths.  Within the state, however, there are big regional differences with the blue counties in southeastern Kentucky having the highest death rates from lung cancer.

New Mexico Becomes 17th State to Legalize Same Sex Marriage

The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled today that the state must provide marriage licenses and equal benefits to both opposite sex and same sex couples.  Previously New Mexico's marriage law was gender neutral regarding the sexes of couples and thus was silent on whether same sex marriages were legal or not.
Various county clerks in New Mexico had begun issuing marriage licenses this year.  The court decision clears the way for marriage throughout the Land of Enchantment.