For the sixth year in a row, Vermont is the nation's healthiest state, according to United Health Foundation's 2012 America's Health Rankings^®. The report ranked Hawaii second, followed by New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Minnesota. The five least healthy states are South Carolina (46), West Virginia (47), Arkansas (48), and Mississippi and Louisiana, which tied for the 49th slot. States that showed the most substantial improvement in rankings include: New Jersey (nine slots), Maryland (five slots), and Alabama, Colorado, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Rhode Island (three slots).

The report found that although smoking rates in the five healthiest states range from 16.8 percent to 19.4 percent of the adult population, smoking rates are between 23.1 percent and 28.6 percent in the five least healthy states. Likewise, 27.2 percent to 36.0 percent of the population leads sedentary lives in the five least healthy states, compared to between 21.0 percent and 23.5 percent of the population in the five healthiest states.

The 2012 rankings also illustrate the impact of a state's economic climate on its residents' health. The five highest-ranked states report a higher median household income ($51,862 to $65,880) than the five lowest-ranked states ($37,881 to $43,939). Rates of children in poverty, which range between 8.6 percent and 16.4 percent of residents in the five healthiest states, are between 24.4 percent and 30.5 percent in Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, West Virginia and South Carolina. Per-capita income and poverty affect the ability of households to afford aspects of a healthy lifestyle.