Toast to Alaska's health this holiday.

• Author: Safir, Andrew
• Position: The Economy According to Safir - Column

I know things are looking up for Alaskans these days. Daylight is short, but oil prices are tall, which goes a long way toward replacing all that lost sunshine. And if you need more Vitamin D, you can always buy a pill.

Unfortunately, Alaskans may need a stronger tonic than a hydrocarbon cocktail can provide. New numbers just out show Alaska is the sickest state in the nation.

A radical statement? Not according to the Northwest National Life Insurance Co. In a late September report covering all 50 states, NWNL ranked each state according to 17 different components grouped by four factors: lifestyle, access to medical facilities, disease and mortality. The result is a virtual smorgasbord of interesting statistics, most of which undermine the popular myth of the ruggedly fit Alaskan resident.

According to NWNL, even Californians (who at 22nd rank well above New Yorkers at 34th) are healthier than the average Alaskan. Only West Virginians (rank 49) come close. On the overall health ranking index, Alaska scored 85 percent of the national average. In contrast, Utah scored 120 percent, proving presumably the inverse correlation between dullness and illness.

Looking behind the overall average is the most fun, and perhaps the most instructive. For example, offhand you would expect Alaska to rank No. I on the basis of comparative lifestyle, a component worth about 30 percent of the overall health measure. But the state doesn't even come close. That's because the lifestyle indicators in the survey include such basic factors as the prevalence of smoking, motor vehicle deaths and the violent crime rate, instead of intangibles such as mountain scenery or the number of salmon streams within 10 minutes of the city limits.

In the "Did you know?" category:

* 34.3 percent of the Alaskan population smokes, the third highest percent in the nation. Only 14.1 percent of Utah's residents light up regularly.

* Alaska ranks 23rd in motor vehicle deaths, 2.3 for every 100,000 miles traveled. This is not due to winter road conditions. Minnesota has worse weather and the...