Local leaders are putting together a plan they hope will improve the collective health of Muskogee residents.

Dubbed the Muskogee Wellness Initiative, a partnership between the city, the Muskogee County Health Department and others will target three major health issues: nutrition, exercise and tobacco cessation.

The goals of the program, which city officials are expected to consider later this month, are to decrease the state’s mortality rate, lower health insurance premiums and improve residents’ quality of life.

“We know that, as a state, we don’t live as long as people in other states because we don’t have healthy habits,” said Linda Hattaway, administrative director of the Muskogee County Health Department. “There are whole lot of things that point toward the need for personal responsibility.”

According to Oklahoma State Board of Health’s “2006 State of the State’s Health” report, Oklahoma is the only state where age-adjusted death rates worsened through the 1990s and into the 21st century.

“If we had the same adjusted death rate as the nation, we would have about 3,700 fewer people dying each year,” the report’s authors state.

The United Health Foundation ranked Oklahoma 47th nationally in 2007 with regard to health. That was down from 44th the year before.

Some of the findings that contributed to the lower ranking included obesity, which increased from 11.6 percent of the population in 1990 to 28.8 percent in 2007.

Other factors considered by the nonprofit organization, whose stated goal is the improvement of health and health care, were the high rate of deaths from cardiovascular disease — 412.1 deaths per 100,000 population — and a high prevalence of smoking, 25.1 percent of the population.

Mayor John Tyler Hammons said the details of the city’s wellness initiative are being worked out before it is presented to the City Council for consideration. But the overarching goal, Hammons said, is to promote more active and healthier lifestyles.

“Everybody has something to do under this plan,” Hammons said. “But the main goal is to try and get people to become more active, and develop healthier lifestyles.”

A lot of that will depend on a campaign to raise the level of awareness about health issues and the important roles nutrition and physical activity play in the development of healthy lifestyles.

Kurt Bolinger, a machinist at Acme Engineering, said the wellness initiative is a good idea.

“People in Oklahoma don’t live as long as people in other states,” Bolinger said Monday after completing a routine workout at Muskogee’s Swim & Fitness Center. “I’m thinking about living longer.”

Bolinger said he takes advantage of his employer’s corporate membership at the municipal fitness center. Acme’s membership, Bolinger said, allows him and his wife access to the facility for half the cost of individual membership.