But while Colorado has the second-lowest prevalence of diabetes in the United States, it's also the only state among the top six whose diabetes rate actually increased over the past ten years.
The complete report is accessible below. But here's the list of the ten states with the lowest diabetes rate during the 2016-2017 analysis period.
1. Alaska 8.4 percentColorado's performance seems less impressive when it's put into context. Below, see the state's latest statistics for diabetes and obesity as compared with data from just shy of a decade ago:
2. Colorado 8.6 percent
3. Montana 8.7 percent
4. New Hampshire 8.8 percent
5. Utah 8.9 percent
6. Vermont 8.9 percent
7. Massachusetts 9.0 percent
8. Minnesota 9.4 percent
9. Wyoming 9.5 percent
10. North Dakota 9.6 percent
DiabetesThis slippage isn't an outlier. Indeed, researchers found that no U.S. states experienced both lower diabetes and obesity rates over the analysis period. And Colorado is certainly in better shape than the states with the worst numbers.
2008-2009 rate: 7.0
2016-2017: 8.6
Percent Point Change: 1.6
Obesity
2008-2009 rate: 18.8
2016-2017 rate: 20.2
Percent Point Change: 1.4
The diabetes rate in West Virginia came in at 17.9 percent, more than double Colorado's. Moreover, seven other states in the southern region — Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee — topped 14 percent.
On the city side, Boulder and Fort Collins finished second and third, respectively, for the lowest diabetes rates of any community in the country. Here's the top ten:
1. Provo-Orem, UT 5.7 percentThree other metro areas finished among the fifty cities with the lowest diabetes rates in the study. They are:
2. Boulder, CO 6.1 percent
3. Fort Collins, CO 6.1 percent
4. Reno, NV 7.0 percent
5. Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA 7.2 percent
6. Burlington-South Burlington, VT 7.6 percent
7. Anchorage, AK 7.9 percent
8. Boise City-Nampa, ID 7.9 percent
9. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA 8.2 percent
10. Madison, WI 8.3 percent
11. Colorado Springs, COClearly, Colorado remains one of the healthiest and most fit states in the nation — even if the news isn't quite as good as it once was.
Diabetes rate: 8.3
Obesity rate: 23.8
32. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO
Diabetes rate: 9.3
Obesity rate: 21.1
42. Greeley, CO
Diabetes rate: 9.5
Obesity rate: 26.5
Click to read "State of American Well-Being: 2017 State and Community Rankings for the Prevalence of Diabetes."