The 2022 Healthy Aging Index, a newly released report about life quality in the US performed by digital health company DoFasting, ranks Colorado 2nd out of 50. The state hangs back from Utah by a slight difference. According to the research, the primary variable for such outstanding results concerning healthy aging is healthcare.
The report analyzes 5 fundamental pillars of healthspan: demographics, economics, behavioral aspects, healthcare, and mental health. Underpinning these pillars are 25 indicators (5 per pillar) that are interrelated and work together to provide an overall measure of healthy aging across the 50 US states. Each indicator’s highest score is 4, the lowest is 0. The highest possible final score is 100; however none of the states have scored it.
The 2022 Healthy Aging Index aims to highlight specific improvements that individual states could make to support healthy aging. For Colorado factors such as diet, divorce rate, and suicide rate have not shown excellent results and have let the Colorado state settle down with second place in the Healthy Aging Index.
“According to recent meta-analysis, higher fruit and vegetable intake reduces mortality; Colorado scored only 1 out of 4 points when it comes to healthy diet,” says Supriya Lal, RD, MPH, health advisor at DoFasting.
While the primary variable for such outstanding results of Colorado state concerning healthy aging is healthcare, indicating that the state is coping well with chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity and hypertension.
“An Oxford university analysis involving nearly one million people worldwide has shown that obesity can trim years off life expectancy. A study showed that moderate obesity reduces life expectancy by about three years and severe obesity by ten years, equal to time loss due to lifelong smoking. This indicates that such a comparable factor within the state can be an important consideration when it comes to healthy aging,” says Supriya Lal RD, MPH, health advisor at DoFasting.
“Corresponding to the study, the best state for healthy aging is Utah, which is becoming an attractive destination for relocation due to affordable healthcare costs and beautiful nature. The worst state for healthy aging is Mississippi because of the lower quality education, lower income, and high poverty and crime rates,” says Kasparas Aleknavicius, MD, medical advisor at DoFasting.
“Multiple recent studies have shown that a low-risk lifestyle can prolong life expectancy – and that most of these additional years of life are spent in good health,” adds Aleknavicius.
Despite spending the most on healthcare worldwide, the United States falls well behind other world leaders in life expectancy rankings. The National Center for Health Statistics reports that after a historic drop in life expectancy in 2020, the country took another alarming hit in 2021, mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic reports. And while life expectancy in other high-income countries has since increased, in the US, it fell by almost 3 years (down to 76.1 years).
One of the reasons for such poor rankings is the US medical system. However, such measures also depend on a variety of socio-economic and behavioral factors that affect an individual’s health – diet, exercise, smoking, poverty, obesity, compliance with medical protocols, and many others.
The research was carried out by experts in the digital health company DoFasting. The team of researchers and medical doctors analyzed 1,250 units of data from 25 reputable sources. The research was conducted to shed light on the uneven distribution of resources around the United States and help people make decisions regarding the most suitable place to live in.
The methodology and explanations of how each factor influences healthy aging can be found here. The methodology behind the report and all calculations can be found here. Visualized information and web access can be found here.
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