by Mary Jessica Hammes
July 13, 2010

If you are able to enjoy fresh, local produce at a farmer’s market this summer, consider yourself lucky.

According to The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation’s State Health Facts, 23 states have less than 2 markets per 100,000 people. And only 1 out of 5 middle and high schools offer fruits and vegetables as “competitive foods,” or foods sold outside of school meal programs, like in vending machines, school stores, or snack bars. That fact is based on data from 27 states, which means the number of schools that offer such choices is actually less than 1 in 5.

The State Health Facts website might be the most user-friendly health data resource on the health of our nation—good for researchers, journalists, or curious parents alike.

There’s an entire section on children’s health, including breastfeeding information which can be found on the women’s health page. There you’ll find that 73 percent of all women in the U.S. breastfed in 2006, though only 43.4 percent were still breastfeeding at 6 months, and 22.7 percent at 12 months.

The website is called “State Health Facts” for a reason: you can easily compare your state to the rest of the country. You can even create a custom fact sheet. Go to “Individual State Profiles” to see whether your state is as healthy as you think.