Despite a growing number of people who have quit smoking and a drop in heart-disease deaths, the United Health Foundation’s annual ranking shows there’s room to improve the nation’s health. According to the report, there are an increasing number of Americans who are obese or diabetic. The percentage of Ameri-cans with diabetes rose to 8.7 percent from 8.3 percent in 2010. The number of obese Americans increased to 27.5 percent of the population, up from 26.9 percent the year before. Among the more positive developments, the number of heart-disease deaths per 100,000 people dropped to 270 from 278 last year. The report named Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecti-cut, Hawaii, and Massachusetts the top five healthiest states in the nation. The least healthy states were Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Alabama.
