Hawai'i residents' health above par
| • | Health status indicator |
By Alice Keesing
Advertiser Health Writer
People in Hawai'i are generally healthier than people on the Mainland yet the state is facing serious challenges, including an aging population and a deterioration in healthy behavior, according to a new report.
Health Trends in Hawai'i, produced by the Hawai'i Health Information Corp. for the HMSA Foundation, uses 30 measures to get a snapshot of Island health. The 2001 report — which uses mostly 1999 data — shows Hawai'i faring better than the Mainland on 21 of those measures.
"For the most part, Hawai'i's doing pretty well," said Andrew Aoki, executive administrator of the HMSA Foundation. "But like any book of indicators, there's good news and bad news."
Contributing to Hawai'i's reputation as the health state are the lower-than-average rates of serious diseases such as cancer, heart disease and AIDS.
But the report cites "ominous" signs for the future that are largely driven by the state's rapidly aging population, according to Aoki.
In 1999, 14 percent of Hawai'i's residents were 65 or older. As the baby boom generation ages, that's projected to increase to 16 percent by 2025, bringing with it a swath of social and economic demands.
"What it means is there are significant issues that we have to address now for the future," said Dr. Virginia Pressler, deputy state health director. "This means we're going to have increasing problems with chronic diseases like cancer and cardiovascular disease and stroke."
It also raises the question if Hawai'i can meet the health and accommodation needs of the elderly.
The state's long-term care facilities have operated at full capacity for many years, according to the Health Trends report. The average occupancy rate peaked at 97.8 percent in 1994, during which time facilities in Hawai'i and Kaua'i counties operated at levels above their licensed capacities.
"There are task forces and others looking at these things now but there aren't any easy solutions because it all takes dollars," Pressler said. "But if we don't do something about it, we're going to be hit with a major crisis in the next decade or so."
Adding to the pressure is the fact that people in Hawai'i are living longer. Chinese women in Hawai'i can expect to live to 86.11 years — the nation's longest average life span. This also could affect Hawai'i's families, Aoki said.
"You might have a situation where you have 70-year-olds taking care of their parents, or 60-year-olds taking care of two sets of parents, like a parent and a grandparent, so the whole dynamic is changing," Aoki said.
Yet while Hawai'i in general enjoys some of the longest life spans in the nation, the same is not true for certain ethnic groups. Native Hawaiian men, for example, have a life expectancy of 71.5 years.
"When we look at our statistics they continue to look better than national averages but when we break it down into certain population groups our statistics are really quite frightening for certain groups who aren't benefiting from the advantages that some others have," Pressler said.
Experts also are alarmed by signs that people in Hawai'i are turning to more unhealthy behaviors, which also can have long term health and financial implications.
"That's probably related to the economy I would think," Pressler said. "When there's more stress and more people unemployed, that's when you tend to see increased drinking or drug use."
Youth smoking is up overall. So is youth drinking. Hawai'i adults continue to do more binge drinking than the U.S. average. They also use more marijuana, hallucinogens and methamphetamine. While leisure-time physical activity is on the rise on the Mainland, it is dropping here. And people in Hawai'i are gaining weight at a faster rate than the rest of the country. Fifty percent of Hawai'i residents are overweight or obese, up from 37 percent in 1990.
Experts believe that Hawai'i faces a growing diabetes epidemic because of signs of increasing obesity in young children. Excess weight increases the risk for the disease.
"Diabetes is a continuing concern because our community has a higher propensity of diabetes, and we need to do a lot of work in this community especially around young people," said HMSA Senior Vice President Cliff Cisco.
Diabetes can have devastating results, leading to blindness, kidney failure, lower limb amputation and heart disease. It also comes with a high price, costing the state $594 million in 1997.
Reach Alice Keesing at akeesing@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8014.
