The XX Factor: What women really think.

In Other Depressing News, Women's Health

The National Women’s Law Center and the Oregon Health & Science University released a truly grim report on Wednesday. Women’s health care in the U.S. is unsatisfactory overall, and no state earned a “satisfactory” grade for women’s health.

The two groups measured women’s health in all 50 states and D.C. by using 27 benchmarks (ranging from rates of obesity to routine breast cancer screening) designated by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Healthy People 2010 campaign. Only three of the benchmarks were met – women receiving regular dental, colorectal cancer screening for women over 50, and the percentage of women 40 and older getting mammograms. Among the 24 unmet goals: rates of obesity and diabetes are way up. In Mississippi (which was ranked last for women’s health overall), the report states that 31.5 percent of women are obese.

It's also discouraging that results varied significantly by race. The report found that 85.7 percent of white women received prenatal care, compared with 75.9 percent of blacks.