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NOTEBOOK: Psychiatrist shortage, binge drinking among Iowa’s worst health problems

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Iowa continues to have one of the lowest ratios of mental health providers in the country, according to the latest figures from America’s Health Rankings (http://bit.ly/2qJ3RIx). The annual report produced by UnitedHealth Group found that Iowa has 134.7 mental health providers per 100,000 population, which places Iowa 44th-lowest among the states in that health measure. The only other health determinant that received the lowest one-star ranking out of five possible stars was Iowa’s rate of excessive drinking — 22.1 percent of Iowa respondents reported excessive drinking (which for men meant having five or more drinks on one occasion in the past 30 days, or having 15 or more drinks per week). Iowa ranked 47th in that measure. Another unhealthy behavior, smoking, has actually declined in Iowa in the past year. The rate of smoking in Iowa declined from 18.1 percent of adults to 16.7 percent in 2017, a 7.7 percent decrease.