The Department of Human Services’ recent happy announcement that Maine has the lowest infant-mortality rate in the nation came, it turns out, with a quiet “however.” For those concerned with the health of Maine people, this second half of the message is worth considering.

Maine’s infant-mortality rate is not only the lowest nationally for 1997, it is part of a several-year trend toward healthier babies in the state based on improved access to prenatal care, a falling number of teen moms and the widespread use of genetic screening for six treatable diseases, among other things. The “however” is this: In celebrating Maine’s achievement on reducing the number of infant deaths, Bureau of Health Director Dora Anne Mills told The Boston Globe last week how Maine’s poor health habits lead to death by chronic disease.

“Two-thirds of our population die of heart disease, stroke, cancer or diabetes,” she said. The rates for Maine are among the highest in the nation. “Maine has among the lowest leisure-time exercise rates, lowest nutrition following and highest rates of fatty diet.” The conclusion to draw from the low infant-mortality rate and high chronic-disease rate is that couch potatoes are made, not born. That is, Maine residents start out great then eat and sit their way into physical disrepair. With one of the highest teen smoking rates in the nation, Director Mills might have added that Maine also coughs its way into intensive care.

This is bad news but not hopeless. Just as Maine lowered its infant-mortality rate over the years, it can lower its rate for these precursors to chronic diseases. Maine has an aggressive campaign to reduce teen smoking; it needs a similar campaign on the benefits of a healthy diet and exercise.

That does not mean more rules and regulations or a ban on fast food. No one needs to be required to eat well. Instead, persuasive information about the effects of fat-laden foods and inactivity could produce better results.

There are a lot of healthy babies in Maine who could grow to depend on this.