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DATA IN "HEALTH, UNITED STATES, 2002" INDICATE MIXED NEWS ON HEALTH BEHAVIOR TRENDS
The "26th annual report card on the nation's health," as the director of CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, Edward Sondik calls it, was released on Sept. 12.
According to HHS secretary Tommy Thompson, the data show that "the illness and behaviors that once cost us the lives of our grandparents will become even less threatening to the lives of our grandchildren."
While that may be true, the data also reveal - both directly and indirectly -- behaviors that are far more likely to kill us than our forebears.
For example, the number of deaths due to diabetes approximately doubled between 1980 and 1999, while diabetes moved from seventh to sixth position on the list of top 10 causes of death nationwide.
Not surprisingly, the prevalence of overweight and obesity -- largely behavioral problems that are major risk factors for type 2 diabetes -- substantially increased during the same time period and continue to rise. By 1999, rates of overweight had reached 61 percent in adults, 13 percent in children and 14 percent in adolescents, while 27 percent of adults were obese.
Also, levels of physical activity showed substantial declines, with 39 percent of adults reporting that they did not engage in physical activity during leisure time in 2000.
Particularly noteworthy is a section on progress toward meeting the Healthy People 2010 goals since 1990. While small gains are evident in some health behaviors, we are standing still or losing ground where others are concerned. And at the rate we're going, the goals promise to remain distant when 2010 comes around.
To see for yourself why Sondik says the publication shows us "what we're doing right and where we still need to make improvements," view the full document in pdf format at www.cdc.gov/nchs.
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