Governor taking good approach toward a healthier Iowa

By Mason City Globe Gazette

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We give Gov. Terry Branstad credit for thinking big - or perhaps thinking smaller - when it comes to improving Iowans' health.

The governor wants to make Iowa the healthiest state in the union and said last week he expects a comprehensive model for a new public-private partnership that focuses on health and wellness to be ready in a couple of months.

The state, he said, needs to help people set goals and “take ownership of their own health so they can live longer and live healthier.”

That means, of course, getting the weight off and becoming more fit by making healthier lifestyle choices.

The Iowa Department of Public Health is charged with coming up with the partnership proposal, but Director Marianette Miller-Meeks said the program will work only if there is buy-in at the consumer level. She expects much of the effort will be taken up by grassroots volunteers. We hope it's a big success.

Branstad has laid the groundwork, forming specifics by working with officials from Hy-Vee, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield and others.

We give them credit and hope to see a program built on encouragement, guidance, logical goals and steps that are reasonable to achieve.

We believe most people want to be healthier and will appreciate a program to lead them on that path, especially with assistance and encouragement from Des Moines.

A healthier Iowa could also lead Iowa to better things economically, Branstad said.

“If we can become one of the healthiest states in the country,” he said, “it's attractive to businesses because one of their highest costs is health care.”

Iowa currently is the 14th-healthiest state in the most recent United Health Foundation Study - up one spot from the year before.

Positive factors cited include a high rate of high school graduation, a low infant mortality rate and wide use of vaccinations. Among challenges cited in the study were high incidences of binge drinking and a shortage of primary care doctors.

With public-private leadership encouraging grassroots buy-in, Iowa can push itself even higher on the list of healthy states.

That would be an accomplishment for Iowans at all levels to be proud of.

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