Georgia ranks 36th in the American Health Rankings for 2010. The national report was released on Tuesday by the United Health Foundation. The state is up seven spots from 2009 when it ranked 43rd.

Dr. Reed Tuckson with the foundation says Georgia is a model for other states.

“Georgia is really an important state for us this year. It has demonstrated extraordinary improvement. What we see are two key reasons why you are doing better and that is in smoking and in obesity. In smoking you’ve gone from 31st to 21st. Today there are 117,000 fewer smokers in Georgia than there were a year ago.”

Obesity in is still a problem but Tuckson says Georgia’s numbers are growing at a much slower rate than the rest of the country. Lack of healthcare coverage was also a major factor in Georgia’s low ranking.

http://statehealthstats.americashealthrankings.org/#/country/US/2010/Ov…

Tags: health, obesity, smoking, American Health Rankings, United Health Foundation