10 Least Healthy States In US: West Virginia Is Top 1

West Virginia is the unhealthiest state in the United States based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Following West Virginia on the top 10 list of least healthy states are Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Ohio.

After looking into disease prevalence and mortality rate, substance abuse, and lifestyle habits and health outlook, the organization found the ten states to be the least healthy, Forbes reported, citing CDC's data.

West Virginia scored 100 out of 100 – with 100 being the most unhealthy – in Forbes' Disease Prevalence and Mortality Rate Score. The outlet said that the state have the highest prevalence of illness and death from chronic diseases.

Residents of the southern state also have the second lowest life expectancy nationwide (73.9), according to the data from CDC, as cited by Forbes. The state also has the highest prevalence of diabetes and accidents among all states.

The report added that WV has the highest rate of drug overdose deaths in the nation (57.13 per 100,000 state residents), the highest percentage of adults who smoke (22.80%) and the second-highest percentage of obese adults (39.8%).

Following West Virginia is Mississippi, which scored 96.55 out of 100. The state is second worst for disease prevalence and death due to chronic disease and tops the list of states for the least healthy lifestyle habits.

The state has the highest percentage of obese adults in the US (39.87%), the lowest life expectancy at birth (73.63%) and the highest percentage of adults who did not exercise in the past month (32.87%).

Mississippi ranks worst in hypertension mortality rate, influenza and pneumonia mortality rate and Alzheimer's disease mortality rate (59.06 deaths per 100,000 residents). Heart disease also remains the top leading cause of death in the state.

Scoring 86.96 out of 100 and landing the third unhealthiest state is Kentucky. The state also ranks third among states with the least healthy lifestyle habits.

The state ranks fifth worst for disease prevalence and mortality rate, and third highest mortality rate for both cancer (223.91 deaths per 100,000 state residents) and chronic lower respiratory disease (75.21 deaths per 100,000 state residents).

The state's residents also have the fourth-highest cancer incidence rate, sixth-highest diabetes mortality rate and seventh-highest kidney disease mortality rate.

In fourth place is Alabama, which scored 85.69 out of 100. The state ranks fourth worst overall and also fourth in disease prevalence and mortality rate, and lifestyle habits and health outlook.

Data showed that 33% of Alabama adults are obese, and 30.6% did not exercise within the past month. The state also has the second-highest stroke incidence rate among all states.

Coming in last for the top 5 unhealthiest state is Arkansas, scoring 85.35 out of 100. The state has the third highest disease prevalence and death score due to chronic disease.

Health problems in the state include heart disease deaths (second highest) and chronic lower respiratory disease deaths (highest in all states).

The state also ranks third highest in diabetes mortality rate and fourth highest in Alzheimer's disease mortality rate.

Meanwhile, Forbes named Hawaii, Utah, California, Colorado and Washington the top 5 healthiest states in the U.S.

The outlet used the state population data from the U.S. Census Bureau.