The 2007 Edition of America’s Health Rankings reports on 20 different measures as listed in Table 10.  This list includes several new measures, including the Prevalence of Binge Drinking, which replaces Motor Vehicle Deaths. The Scientific Advisory Committee recommended this change because Binge Drinking is considered a better indicator of the adverse effects of alcohol consumption on health.

Data for the Prevalence of Binge Drinking is obtained from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS).  The BRFSS recently changed the definition of binge drinking which is the source of the data reported in Table 22.

As a result of these changes, Binge Drinking was not used to establish the overall rankings of states in this Edition. However, because the statistic is important, it is included for information purposes.

Thus, while the report describes 20 components, only nineteen are actually used to determine the relative ranking of the states.  Prevalence of Binge Drinking will be fully incorporated into the 2008 Edition.