Teenagers are leading the way toward a healthier Colorado.

In their 10th annual health report card, the Colorado Health Institute and Colorado Health Foundation laud teens in five of 10 good-news categories.

Twenty-three percent of Colorado teens are sexually active, the lowest rate in the nation. The teen birth rate has dropped by nearly half since 2007, to 23 per thousand girls. More children are getting dental care, fewer are binge drinking and two-thirds now participate “in vigorous physical activity.”

The report card also gives high marks to pregnant women, saying only 11 percent now wait until their third trimester for medical care or skip it altogether. That brought Colorado to sixth best in the nation, up from 41st in 2008.

Those are among the 10 top achievements cited by the report. Broader health insurance coverage, low adult obesity rates, a high percentage of seniors with regular medical care and “active seniors” are the others.

Overall, Colorado’s health has improved in the last decade to “a solid B,” said Michele Lueck, the health institute’s president. “We seem to be doing better in the categories of healthy babies and healthy kids.”

Now for the bad news: Colorado has slipped in comparison with other states on the percentage of women smoking while pregnant. Adult binge drinking, hypertension and diabetes rates are up. Growing numbers of seniors are reporting mental health problems and skipping recommended immunizations.

More children are obese, though Colorado still ranks well nationally. More teens live in impoverished families, and the level of teen depression remains unchanged.

The report also noted links between poverty and obesity, as well as race and infant mortality.

Twenty-six percent of adults with incomes between $15,000 and $20,000 are obese, compared with 19 percent earning more than $75,000. And the mortality rate for black infants, at 9.6 per 1,000 babies, is more than double the mortality rate for white infants.

Among teens, “the percentage who were sexually active reached a high of 31.8 percent in 2013, but fell to 23.3 percent in 2016, the lowest rate in the nation,” the report said.

On a related measure, “Colorado has nearly halved its teen birth rate in the past decade,” the report said. “Colorado now ranks 18th in the nation, up from 36th.”

David Olinger: 303-954-1498, dolinger@denverpost.com or @dolingerdp