Health secretary: South Dakota trending wrong way in key public health metrics

'You have to live long enough to have those types of illnesses, and our American Indians are not living long enough'

FLANDREAU — The state’s top public health official painted a bleak picture Monday about South Dakota’s overall wellness, honing in on rising rates of infant and maternal mortality, childhood obesity, and falling childhood vaccination numbers.

South Dakota Secretary of Health Melissa Magstadt during a briefing to the Legislature’s Tribal Relations Committee on the Flandreau Santee Sioux reservation told lawmakers the state is falling behind its neighbors when it comes to getting school-age children immunized for preventable diseases like mumps and diphtheria and keeping young people from becoming overweight. And when looking at Native American populations within the state, the statistics are even more startling, she said.

“This one breaks my heart, actually,” Magstadt said before sharing data highlighting a stark disparity in life expectancy among white and native populations in South Dakota.

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