Give a year-end healthy toast to another bit of good news for Iowans in a statewide survey: The Hawkeye state is in the top third among the healthiest in the country according to United Health Group's 2017 rankings. But better than ranking 15th healthiest overall is this: 2017 marks the third straight year Iowa has trended toward better health.

The group's annual "America's Health Rankings" report published this month looks at 35 measures covering behaviors, community and environment, policy, clinical care and outcomes data. The report's executive summary says that the country is facing serious public health challenges, including rising rates of premature death and an uneven concentration of health care providers. According to the report, Iowa rose two spots in the rankings compared to 2016, seven spots from 2015 and nine from 2014, when Iowa ranked its lowest ever since the reporting began in 1990.

Some of Iowa's strengths highlighted in the report are a 7.7 percent decrease in the number of smokers in the past three years, a 58 percent decrease in the number of uninsured residents, and a drop in the number of preventable hospitalizations. But the state did see some unfavorable numbers in the report, including a 10 percent increase in obesity in the past five years and a a 56 percent increase in the number of chlamydia cases in four years.

Though the number of deaths related to drugs also was up over five years by 1.8 per 100,000, Iowa's drug death rate is among the lowest in the country, ranking the state fourth lowest.

The state ranks in the bottom 10 in the country when it comes to cancer deaths at 195.2 per 100,000 and had a rate of 5.9 more cancer deaths per 100,000 people than in 2012. The state ranked in the bottom half of the country for infant mortality and drug deaths, though the rate of infant deaths increased by 0.2 per 100,000 over 2012. In the past five years, the state also has improved the number of cardiovascular deaths, with 8.8 fewer, and cardiovascular deaths, with 299 fewer. The survey ranked Iowa 44th among the number of mental health providers, with 134.7 per 100,000, while Massachusetts led the nation with more than four times that at 547.3.

Iowa received high marks for being one of the five states with the lowest disparity in health status among rural, urban and suburban populations.

The state's rank in a variety of categories (including national average number in parentheses) included:



Drug deaths, 47th, at 9.4 per 100,000

Excessive drinking, 47th, 22.1 per 100,000

High school graduation, 1st, 90.8 percent

Uninsured residents, 5th lowest, 4.7 percent of residents

Frequent mental distress, 7th, 10 cases per 100,000 (national 11.7)

Frequent physical distress 5th, 96 per 100,000 (11.7)

Infant mortality, 4th lowest, 4.5 per 100,000 (5.9)

Premature death, 11th, 6,333 per 100,000 (7,214) But findings this year show as a nation the premature death rate (death before the age of 75) increased for the third straight year. 2017 also saw an increase in the rates of cardiovascular and drug deaths nationwide. The report also found a wide disparity in the concentration of both mental health providers and of primary care physicians and dentists in the country. The healthiest states in the U.S. for 2017 are: