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Social Justice Resource Center: Hunger Facts & Figures

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Social Justice Resource Center: Hunger Facts & Figures

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Around the world, nearly 800 million people remain chronically undernourished. Approximately 50 million children under 5 years are wasted; over 2 billion people suffer from micronutrient deficiencies and 1.9 billion people are overweight, of which over 600 million are obese.
World Health Organization
Over 1.5 billion people live on less than $ 1.25 a day and cannot feed themselves.
Bread for the World
Every day, 18,000 children under age 5 die from hunger and diseases related to poor nutrition.
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
Low-income countries have child mortality rate 13 times higher than high-income countries. Of the 6 million kids under 5 who die each year, 50% is due to under-nutrition.
Bread for the World
There are approximately 165 million children in the world under the age of 5 who are stunted because of chronic malnutrition. Stunting means that the child is too short for his or her age, but it also causes brain damage.
Bread for the World
33% of all food produced for human consumption is wasted.
Initiative Save the Food
The risk of a child dying before completing 5 years of age is highest in Africa ( 90 per 1,000 live births), about 7 times higher than in Europe ( 12 per 1,000 live births).

A population too malnourished to work suffers long term economic consequences. A malnourished person can suffer a 10% reduction in his or her lifetime earnings, while countries can see 2-3% annual reductions in their Gross Domestic Product (GNP).
Bread for the World
Just 2% of the world's grain harvest would be enough, if shared, to erase the problem of hunger and malnutrition around the world.
Economics Today: A Christian Critique
Providing people with the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty creates a more stable world. For every 5% drop income growth in a developing country, the likelihood of violent conflict or war within the next year increases by 10%.
Bread for the World
43 of the top 50 consumer nations of US agricultural products were once US foreign aid recipients.
Bread for the World
World consumption of animal protein is on the rise. The rise in consumption of milk and eggs is equally dramatic. Wherever incomes rise, so does meat consumption. Meat consumption has a large impact on grain consumption, and thus global food security.
Earth Policy
People living in high income countries can expect to live 10 years longer.

Scavenging Garbage Dumps

Some 15 million people live and work within municipal rubbish tips around the globe, combing through trash every day for food and items to sell. For example: About 100 families live inside the Boragaon landfill in the city of Guwahati, India

The average life expectancy for someone born and raised in these environments is 35 years old.
Purple Community Fund
La Chureca, the "City of Trash," outside of Managua,Nicaragua, is the largest garbage dump in Central America, covering over 4 square miles, and has over 1,000 people who live & work there every day.

More than 2,000 families live on the Bantar Gebang landfill that lies outside of Jakarta in Indonesia
The Borgen Project
The Guatemala City Garbage Dump has 13,000 people who live and work there to survive. 50% of these are children.
Borgen Magazine
The Payatas dumpsite, outside Manila in the Philippines, is the home, workplace and playground to about 80,000 people. In 2000 a landslide there killed over 200 scavengers.

Click on the link below for more information about people living in dumps:
Around the World in 80 Dumps
14% of households with over 16 million children in the US are "food insecure" - meaning they can't provide enough food for its members at some point during the year.
U.S. Department of Agriculture
A typical "food insecure" household spends 26% less on food than typical food secure household of the same size and composition.
Bread for the World
More than 38 million Americans live below the poverty line ($25,465 for a family with 2 adults and 2 children).
The U.S. Census Bureau
More than 20% children in the US- live at risk of hunger. Likewise more than 20% of children are living in poverty.
Bread for the World
In the U.S. there are more than 38,000 supermarkets, that sell on average 40,000 items.

Americans spend 5.6% of their income for groceries and 4.3% on dining out.

Nearly 25% of grocery shopping dollars are spent on processed foods and sweets.
Five Star Home Foods
At Christmas time, Americans eat:
U.S. Department of Agriculture
An estimated 45 million Americans go on a diet each year, and spend $33 billion on weight loss products because they eat more food than they need.
Boston Medical Center
Being smarter about food helps save water too (lots of it).

For example, making 1 pound of chicken takes the same amount of water as showering for 104 minutes.

1 pound of tomatoes = 5 minutes in the shower

1 pound of bananas = 42 minutes in the shower

1 pound of rice = 60 minutes in the shower

1 pound of cheese = 122 minutes

1 pound of beef = 370 minutes
Save the Food
Approximately 21 million low income children receive a free or reduced price lunch through the National School Lunch Program. But only half 11 million also receive a free or reduced price breakfast through the School Breakfast Program and only about 2 million also received Summer Food Service Program meals during the summer months.
Bread for the World
More than 8 million low income women, infants, and children received nutritious food, nutrition education, and health care referrals through the Women, Infant & Children (WIC) federal assistance program.
Bread for the World
The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP (formerly known as 'food stamps') is targeted to go to the lowest-income people in the country. It is estimated that each dollar in federally funded SNAP benefits during a recession generates between $1.50 and $1.80 in economic activity.
Food Research & Action Center
12% of American households receives benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. SNAP lifts at least 4 million Americans out of poverty every year - including 2 million children.
Bread for the World
47% of households receiving SNAP benefits are employed and 64% of recipients are children, elderly or disabled.
Bread for the World
Undocumented immigrants are ineligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Center of Budget & Policy Priorities
Americans pay over $18 billion ($152 a person) for Easter celebrations.

About 22% of Hispanic households and 26% of African American households are food insecure. Communities of color tend to experience higher levels of poverty and hunger than the general population.
Bread for the World
Families headed by a single parent under age 30 are most at risk of hunger: their poverty rate is more than 5 times as high as high as that of families headed by an older person.
Bread for the World
The United States is the world's largest corn producer and exports between 10-20% of its annual production.
U.S. Department of Agriculture
33% of the US corn production is used to feed animals such as dairy, beef cattle, hogs and poultry.

27% is used to make ethanol (alcohol used as fuel).

11% is used for other processing such as high fructose corn syrup, sweeteners, starch, beverage alcohol, and cereals.

10% of the US corn production is used to create distillers grains.

8% is for residential use.

Corn is used both a food and a fuel (ethanol) so when the price of fuel (i.e. oil) rises, the demand for ethanol rises, increasing the price of corn and reducing its availability as a food.

Approximately $1 trillion of food is lost or wasted every year - accounting for roughly 33% of the world's food.
World Food Program
30% to 40% of the food supply in the U.S. is wasted, which works out to more than 20 pounds of food per person per month.
World Food Program
An average family of 4 people throws away $1,500 of food a year. This includes 50% of seafood, 48% of fruit and vegetables, 38% of grain products, 22% of meat and 20% of milk.
Save the Food

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Around the world, nearly 800 million people remain chronically undernourished. Approximately 50 million children under 5 years are wasted; over 2 billion people suffer from micronutrient deficiencies and 1.9 billion people are overweight, of which over 600 million are obese. World Health Organization Over 1.5 billion people live on less than $ 1.25 a day and cannot feed themselves.

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Social Justice Resource Center: Health Care Facts & Figures

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Social Justice Resource Center: Health Care Facts & Figures

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Every year, nearly 11 million children around the world die before reaching their 5th birthday, most from preventable causes. That is approximately, 30,000 children per day. Pneumonia - commonly spread through a lack of hygiene - is the number one killer, accounting for more than 1,000 deaths a day worldwide.

One of the most basic hygiene problems that haunt developing communities is lack of adequate toilets. Around the world, about 2.5 billion people do not have proper toilets. Among them, 1 billion people defecate in the open - in fields, bushes and bodies of water - putting themselves and their community in danger of fecal-oral diseases, like hepatitis, cholera and dysentery. Children are especially susceptible to these diseases when their home and "playgrounds" are overrun with rubbish and human waste.

Over 30 countries spend a greater share of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on child care and early education than the US.

The US is the only major Western economic power without universal health care system in which health care is considered a human right.

Of 17 high-income countries, the US has the highest or near-highest prevalence of obesity, car accidents, infant mortality, heart and lung disease, sexually transmitted infections, adolescent pregnancies, injuries, and homicides.
National Institutes of Health
Of the healthcare systems of 11 developed countries, the US healthcare system is the most expensive and worst-performing in terms of health access, efficiency, and equity.
The Atlantic
U.S. health care spending grew 4.6% in 2018, reaching $3.6 trillion. The U.S. spends 17% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on health care - more than any other nation.
The World Health Organization
64% of health spending is paid for by the government, funded via programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, and the Veterans Health Administration.
American Journal of Public Health
Black women are 40% more likely to die from breast cancer than white women, despite the fact that they develop breast cancer at the same rates.

The number of uninsured Americans peaked in 2010 just after the Great Recession at about 50 million. By 2016, this had dropped to 27 million. (approximately 9% of the U.S population) with the passage of the Affordable Care Act.
U.S. Census Bureau
Since 2016, the number of Americans without medical insurance rose to 8.5 % ( 28 million) people in 2018.
U.S. Census Bureau
Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the two main state-federal health programs covered 1,000,000 fewer children in 2018 than they did in 2017.
U.S. Census Bureau
Latinos are most likely to lack health insurance in the US and their insurance rates nationwide have grown fastest since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. The proportion of people living below the poverty line who lacked health insurance had fallen from 28% to 17% in states that expanded Medicaid coverage under the law, while the rate remained unchanged at 36% in states that did not.
The Commonwealth Fund
20% of people in the US under 65 with health insurance reported problems paying their bills.

53% of those without health insurance said the same.

25% of adults without health insurance coverage say that they went without care in the past year because of its cost, compared to 4% of those with health insurance. 55% of uninsured adults do not have a regular place to go when they are sick of need medical advice.

If being uninsured was a cause of death, it would be the 10th most common one in the U.S.

Life Expectancy

The U.S. spends $11,172 per person per year for health care and has a life expectancy of 79 years - among the lowest in the developing world.

Switzerland spends $8,009 per person and has a life expectancy of 82 years.

Germany spends $5,728 per person and life expectancy there is 80 years.

Sweden spends $5,511 per person and has a life expectancy of 82 years.

Canada spends $4,826 and life expectancy there is 82 years

Japan spends $4,717 and life expectancy is 83 years.

On average, a U.S. male can be expected to live almost 4 fewer years than those in the top-ranked country.
National Institutes of Health
There is about a 20 year gap between the U.S. county with the highest life expectancy (Summit, Colorado - 86.8 years) and the U.S. county with the lowest life expectancy (Oglala Lakota/Shannon, South Dakota - 66.81 years) which is about the same as the gap between the US and Haiti.

Life expectancy for both men and women in the U.S. varies by income. For example, the richest American men live 15 years longer than the poorest men, while the richest American women live 10 years longer than the poorest women.
Medical/Maternity Leave
96% of working single mothers said paid leave to care for themselves or a sick family member would help them the most.
Bread for the World
The United States is the only developed country without paid maternity leave.
Bread for the World
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) passed in 1993, grants workers the right to 12 weeks of unpaid leave after the birth or adoption of a child. However most low income families cannot afford to take unpaid leave. In addition FMLA does not apply to all workers. Approximately 44% of private sector workers are not eligible - either because they work for a company with fewer than 50 employees or they have not worked the required 1,250 hours over the previous 12 months.
Bread for the World
In a survey of 7,000 small firms (less than 50 employees) that offer Family and Medical Leave Act (FLMA) voluntarily, 1% said that it affected them negatively. 33% reported a positive effect and the other 66% reported no noticeable effect.
U.S. Department of Labor
In 1971 the US very nearly had a comprehensive federal childcare policy. The Comprehensive Child Development Act (CCDA) passed with broad bipartisan support in both the House and Senate but President Nixon vetoed it, saying that it would "Sovietize" the American family.
Bread for the World
The US has the highest number of maternal deaths in the developed world and 60% of these are preventable.
National Public Radio
People who live in high-poverty neighborhoods are twice as likely to be hospitalized for flu than those in low-poverty communities.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Doctors are more likely to prescribe medicine to affluent people. Those in the two highest income categories were twice as likely as their lower-income counterparts.
The American Journal of Public Health
Those in lower economic strata are likelier to catch a disease and they are also more likely to die from it. For example, low income is associated with higher rates of chronic health conditions such as diabetes or heart disease etc.
The New York Times
Many of the people society has come to depend on during a health crisis such as food pickers, packers, truck drivers, cashiers and cooks are among the lowest paid, those who can't work from home, need to take mass transit, can't afford day care for their children and don't have health insurance or paid sick leave.

Most low paid workers cannot afford to stay home when they are sick and must choose between getting paid or taking care of themselves.
The New York Times
Approximately 20% of food service workers come to work at least once each year "while sick with vomiting or diarrhea."
The Center for Disease Control
Novovirus, a major cause of food poisoning, sickens approximately 2 0 million Americans and kills several hundred each year. Outbreaks are often traced back to sick food service workers.
The New York Times
Paid sick leave is standard in other developed nations, 13 states and in some large cities such as New York, Chicago and Washington D.C.
The New York Times
Providing paid sick leave would cost employers an average of 2.7 cents per hour of paid work.
The New York Times
Dr. Jonas Salk who created the vaccine for polio in 1955 did not patent his vaccine and did not profit from it.

In 1923, Frederick Banting and his team won the Nobel Prize for the discovery of insulin. It could have made him very rich, but he wanted insulin to be available to everyone so decided to give the patent away for free.

Today a patient with Type 1 diabetes incurs an annual insulin costs of $5,705, on average.

HCA Healthcare's CEO made $109 million

Intuitive Surgical's CEO made $99 million

Pfizer's CEO made $47 million

Johnson & Johnson's CEO made $46 million

Humana's CEO made $27 million

During the same period, 20% of Americans skipped needed medical care due to costs.

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Every year, nearly 11 million children around the world die before reaching their 5th birthday, most from preventable causes. That is approximately, 30,000 children per day. Pneumonia - commonly spread through a lack of hygiene - is the number one killer, accounting for more than 1,000 deaths a day worldwide.

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Resources from a Consortium for Science-Based Information on Children, Youth and Families

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Resources from a Consortium for Science-Based Information on Children, Youth and Families

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Select the "body" tab across the top for a drop-down menu of varied mental health challenges and topics

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Infoaboutkids.org is an ongoing collaboration of the Consortium for Science-Based Information on Children, Youth and Families. Our goal is to promote healthy child and family development by highlighting science-based information for those who care for, or work with, children. Our site, updated annually, links to other well-established, trustworthy websites for parents, other caregivers, and professionals. Our monthly blogs will summarize science-based information on timely topics. Information provided on the site is meant to complement and not replace any advice or information from a health or education professional.

Body

How does healthy child and adolescent physical development occur? This section looks at physical milestones from birth through adolescence, including puberty. Topics related to healthy development, including healthy eating, exercise and activity levels, and doctor visits are available. Also included are areas that may be of concern, such as specific health conditions, drug abuse, and pain management.

Mind

How do children think and learn? This section looks at milestones in thinking, understanding, problem solving, and language. School topics such as homework and test anxiety are included. This section also includes challenges such as Intellectual disabilities and learning problems.

Emotions

How are emotions understood and managed by children and adolescents? This section looks at milestones in developing emotional well-being. This also includes information about challenges to emotional well-being such as conflict, stress, and trauma. Specific mental and behavioral health conditions are also included.

Relationships

How can children and adolescents relate with others effectively? This section looks at how healthy relationships are developed with family members, peers, and with others in the schools and community. This also includes challenges that happen within the family such as conflict, in schools such as bullying, or in the community such as involvement with the legal system.

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Infoaboutkids.org is an ongoing collaboration of the Consortium for Science-Based Information on Children, Youth and Families. Our goal is to promote healthy child and family development by highlighting science-based information for those who care for, or work with, children. Our site, updated quarterly, links to other well-established, trustworthy websites for parents and professionals.

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Harvard Health: Can you be overweight and still be fit?

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Harvard Health: Can you be overweight and still be fit?

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Image: © FredFroese/Getty Images
The idea that someone can be "fat and fit" - that is, overweight but still healthy - has been around for some time. But don't be fooled.

"The latest science is quite clear that excess weight can carry considerable health risks, including a higher risk for heart attack and stroke," says Dr. Jorge Plutzky, director of preventive cardiology at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital. "While there is no one-size-fits-all number when it comes to a person's ideal weight, men should not ignore significant weight gain and the implications it has for their future health."

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Can you be overweight and still be fit? - Harvard Health

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Image: © FredFroese/Getty Images The idea that someone can be "fat and fit" - that is, overweight but still healthy - has been around for some time. But don't be fooled. "The latest science is quite clear that excess weight can carry considerable health risks, including a higher risk for heart attack and stroke," says Dr. Jorge Plutzky, director of preventive cardiology at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital.

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Boost your health knowledge by playing these interactive health games.

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Large non-profit social services provider

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By making it easier for individuals to access substance abuse programs, receive quality health care and access nutritious foods, we're fighting to help everyone get-and stay-healthy.

SUCCESS STORIES

From introducing food stands in urban food desserts to supporting the emotional and mental needs of our veterans, we're committed to building healthy communities, one person at a time.

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Healthy Communities Are Strong Communities | United Way Worldwide

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By making it easier for individuals to access substance abuse programs, receive quality health care and access nutritious foods, we're fighting to help everyone get-and stay-healthy. SUCCESS STORIES From introducing food stands in urban food desserts to supporting the emotional and mental needs of our veterans, we're committed to building healthy communities, one person at a time.

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National Institutes of Health: Physical Wellness Toolkit

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National Institutes of Health: Physical Wellness Toolkit

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Discover which physical health habits can help decrease your stress, lower your risk of disease, and increase your energy.

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The Community Health Assessment Clearinghouse has useful data resources. Starting by reviewing data offered by your state can save time.

New York State Data

Community Health Data Set: County-level data in 18 health focus areas. The focus areas are: Demographic and Socioeconomic Characteristics, Physical Activity and Fitness, Nutrition, Tobacco Use, Substance Abuse: Alcohol and Other Drugs, Family Planning, Violent and Abusive Behavior, Unintentional Injuries, Oral Health, Maternal and Infant Health, Child and Adolescent Health, Heart Disease and Stroke, Cancer, Chronic Conditions, HIV Infection, Sexually Transmitted Disease, Immunization, and Infectious Diseases.

County Health Assessment Indicators (CHAI): The New York State County Health Assessment Indicator (CHAI) Reports consist of a series of tables presenting selected public health indicators by 14 health topic areas. Each topic contains an "ABOUT" section defining the listed indicators, describing the source of data and identifying a contact person. These public health indicators and presentation format were developed with input from state and local health department representatives.

County Health Indicator Profiles: Brief county level summary data related to sociodemographics, perinatal health, mortality, morbidity and hospitalizations.

Community Health Indicators by Race/Ethnicity: County-level for more than 40 indicators in eight topic areas by race and ethnicity.

My Community's Health and EpiQuery: Interactive web-based data query system, EpiQuery, provides users with access to information from the New York City (NYC) Community Health Survey, NYC Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), and NYC Vital Statistics data. In addition, there are links to NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's data publications.

New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) Program Data: AIDS/HIV, Expanded Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (EBRFSS), BRFSS, Cancer, Communicable Disease, Managed Care, Hospital Discharge Data, Lead and Vital Statistics.

Data by New York State Department of Health partners' data links: Data related to child well-being, mental health, socioeconmic data, substance abuse, and traffic safety.

Sociodemographic data sources:

Vital Statistics of New York State: Has tables with data gathering from birth and death certificates. Data are available on population, live births, spontaneous fetal deaths, induced abortion, pregnancies, mortality, marriages and dissolutions of marriage, city and villlage profiles.

State Data Links

Assessment data links from states or with state-level data.

National Health Data

National health-related data and sociodemographic data links

Data training links:

Links to data analysis, interpretation and utilization training.

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The Community Health Assessment Clearinghouse has useful data resources. Starting by reviewing data offered by your state can save time. Community Health Data Set: County-level data in 18 health focus areas.

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New York State: Priority Area: Physical Activity and Nutrition

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New York State: Priority Area: Physical Activity and Nutrition

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The Burden of Physical Inactivity and Poor Nutrition

Major causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States are related to poor diet and physical inactivity. By maintaining a healthy diet and being physically active, individuals can achieve a healthy weight and reduce their risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and some forms of cancer, and strengthen bones to reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading causes of death in New York, killing almost 59,000 residents each year. Diabetes is the most rapidly growing chronic disease, affecting one out of every 12 adult New Yorkers. As more children in the United States become overweight and inactive, type 2 diabetes, which used to be diagnosed mainly in overweight adults, has become increasingly common in the youth population. It now accounts for 8% to 45% of new cases of childhood diabetes.

Obesity, which may be addressed through proper nutrition and physical activity, is a major risk factor for many chronic diseases, and has reached epidemic proportions both in New York and across the nation. The percentage of obese adults in New York more than doubled from 10% in 1997 to 24.2% in 2009 and, nationally, obesity among children and adolescents has tripled over the past three decades. According to a report by the New York State Comptroller's Office, New York ranks second among states in adult obesity-related medical expenditures, with total spending estimated at nearly $7.6 billion (81% of which is paid by Medicaid and Medicare), and far exceeding the national average of 52%. ¹ Physical inactivity, poor nutrition, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and television viewing can contribute to excess weight gain in children and adults. In 2009, 26.4% of adult New Yorkers reported no physical activity in the past 30 days.

References

Office of the State Comptroller. Preventing and Reducing Childhood Obesity in New York. 2008 Oct. 1-4 pp.

Objectives

Indicators for Tracking Public Health Priority Areas

Each community's progress towards reaching these Prevention Agenda Objectives is tracked so communities can see how close they are to meeting these objectives.

Data and Statistics

The New York State County Health Assessment Indicator (CHAI) Reports include a series of tables presenting selected public health indicators by 14 health topic areas. Within the topic area entitled Health Behaviors Data, the following physical activity and nutrition related indicators are reported:

The New York State Community Health Data Set consists of a series of tables, maps and graphs containing health statistics organized by county of residence. The data set includes physical activity, fitness and nutrition related indicators from various sources.

The Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System provides data on nutrition-related indicators for low-income children served by federally-funded maternal and child health and nutrition programs. In New York State, data on birth weight, short stature, underweight, overweight, anemia, breastfeeding, smoking in the household, and TV viewing are presented for infants and children (<5 years of age) participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

The New York State Obesity Statistics and Prevention Activities website provides county-level statistics related to obesity and a summary of New York State Department of Health program activities for the prevention of obesity.

The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) is an ongoing school-based health survey system that tracks health risk behaviors and the prevalence of obesity and asthma among high school students in the United States. Prevalence and trend data are available for physical activity and nutrition-related indicators such as:

The New York City Health and Nutrition Examination Survey is a community-based health survey conducted by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The data collected provide information on the prevalence of a variety of health indicators among New York City adults aged 20 years and older.

The New York City Community Health Survey (CHS) is a telephone survey conducted annually by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. CHS provides robust data on the health of New Yorkers, including neighborhood, borough and citywide estimates on a broad range of chronic diseases and behavioral risk factors. CHS is based upon the national Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The New York City Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is conducted through an ongoing collaboration between the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Department of Education, and the CDC. The New York City's survey is part of the CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS).

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Diabetes Data and Statistics website presents data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a national telephone survey conducted by the CDC and state health departments. Available statistics include fruit and vegetable consumption among adults in New York State and the United States.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Physical Activity Statistics website presents data from the BRFSS. Available statistics include adults meeting recommended physical activity levels in New York State and the U.S.

NYSDOH has BRFSS reports on walking, diabetes prevalence, cardiovascular disease, nutrition, physical activity behaviors, and other risk factors and conditions.

New York State Department of Health Programs

Healthy Heart Program

The Healthy Heart Program addresses cardiovascular disease by reducing associated risk factors and improving detection and treatment, especially for hypertension, hyperlipidemia and stroke. It supports or collaborates with many partners to implement public health strategies in four sectors: worksites, schools, health care settings, and the community-at-large.

The environment in which people live, work, play and receive health care strongly influences physical activity, food habits and other health-related behaviors. Policy and environmental changes help people to be physically active, eat healthy foods, and receive evidence-based health care. Sample interventions include making communities more walkable, opening schools after hours for community use, establishing community gardens, implementing health risk appraisals at worksites, making it safer for children to walk and bike to school, and improving care for people suffering from strokes.

Overweight and Obesity Prevention Program

The Overweight and Obesity Prevention Program aims to increase physical activity and improve nutrition among New York residents. The program's current primary focus is the prevention of childhood obesity.

The New York State Strategic Plan for Overweight and Obesity Prevention identifies evidence-based strategies and promising approaches that can be replicated. Interventions that address the need for changing policies and environments to promote and provide options for healthy eating and more physical activity are highlighted.

Priority areas of the strategic plan are based on their potential for:

Increasing the perception of overweight and obesity as major public health threats.

Increasing early recognition of healthy weight, overweight, and/or excessive weight gain.

Promoting, supporting, and maintaining systemic and sustainable changes needed to make healthy eating and physical activity easy for everyone.

Expanding and improving surveillance and program evaluation.

Increasing initiation, exclusivity and duration of breastfeeding during infancy.

Increasing lifelong physical activity.

Improving lifelong healthy eating.

Decreasing exposure to television and other recreational screen time.

In addition to the tracking indicators, the Overweight and Obesity Prevention Program has established two indicators to monitor its impact on TV viewing:

Percentage of 9th - 12th grade students watching one hour or less per day of TV on an average school day (YRBSS 2007) for New York State and the United States.

Percentage of 9th - 12th grade students watching two hours or less per day of TV on an average school day (YRBSS 2007) for New York State and the United States.

Diabetes Prevention and Control Program

The Diabetes Prevention and Control Program (DPCP) collaborates with local, state and national partners to reduce and eliminate the burden of diabetes in New York State. Since its inception, the DPCP has transitioned from a focus on the control of diabetes complications to a comprehensive public health approach including prevention of type 2 diabetes and the promotion of healthy lifestyles across the lifespan. The DPCP has identified three goals to align with CDC's national diabetes program framework:

Prevent type 2 diabetes.

Prevent complications, disabilities and the disease burden associated with diabetes.

Eliminate diabetes-related health disparities.

In order to achieve these goals, the DPCP implements strategies within the following priority areas:

Public awareness and education.

Children and diabetes in schools and childcare settings.

Healthcare practice.

Access to care.

Sustainability and policy, systems and environmental change.

Public health tracking and evaluation.

Student Weight Status Initiative

A new approach to assess childhood obesity throughout the state is being implemented to:

Increase screening and early recognition of overweight and obesity by pediatric healthcare providers.

Collect, aggregate and report weight status data for public schools and school districts.

Provide local, county and statewide estimates of the prevalence of childhood obesity.

Target resources to populations most at risk for childhood obesity.

Identify what is working in schools and communities to help prevent and reduce childhood obesity.

Model Guidelines on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Media for After-School Settings

Child and Adult Care Food Program

Recognized as the gold standard for nutrition and food service in daycare centers, the Child and Adult Care Food Program currently serves more than half of all eligible daycare programs, including all Head Start centers in the state.

Eat Well Play Hard Program

Eat Well Play Hard (EWPH) is a childhood obesity prevention initiative incorporated into large-scale public health food and nutrition programs that serve low-income preschool children and their families in targeted communities. EWPH strategies are integrated into each program's food policies, nutrition education efforts, staff training, and marketing and outreach efforts. The core strategies for the EWPH intervention aim to:

Increase developmentally appropriate physical activity.

Increase consumption of 1% or fat-free milk and low-fat dairy products.

Increase consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Decrease TV and screen time.

Increase the initiation and duration of breastfeeding.

Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children

The Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program supports the EWPH objectives through state policies and resources provided to WIC local agency staff and participants, such as encouraging low-fat dairy products for participants over age two and incorporating physical activity into WIC clinic education.

The Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program

The Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program (HPNAP) ensures that the state's emergency food system supports EWPH objectives by establishing policies and resources for emergency food relief organizations, such as food banks, food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters. Examples of these efforts include:

The HPNAP policies require that at least 10 percent of HPNAP food funds are spent on fresh produce and a minimum of two percent are spent on non-flavored low-fat or non-fat fluid milk.

Food recovery projects, food banks, and other contractors are increasing the availability of fresh produce, including locally grown produce, in food pantries, soup kitchens and emergency shelters by establishing and operating community gardens, collecting leftover produce on farms through gleaning initiatives, participating in Community Supported Agriculture, and delivering fresh produce to low-income areas.

Just Say Yes to Fruits and Vegetables is a Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program designed to increase access to and consumption of fruits and vegetables by individuals and families receiving food stamps and WIC benefits.

New York State Strategic Alliance for Health

The Strategic Alliance for Health program is working to create healthier communities through sustainable, innovative, evidence- and practice-based community health promotion, and chronic disease prevention efforts that promote policy, system, and environmental change. Albany, Broome, Orange, and Schenectady counties are funded through this program to work with schools and the community to encourage physical activity, healthy eating, and tobacco-free choices in order to reduce the burden of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. Interventions are targeted to populations most in need with a special emphasis on reaching at-risk populations including specific racial and ethnic groups, those limited by income and insurance coverage, those with high chronic disease rates, and individuals with disabilities.

New York City Strategic Alliance for Health

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funds the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to support the New York City Strategic Alliance for Health. The Alliance targets the South Bronx and East and Central Harlem to address physical activity, nutrition, and tobacco use within schools and the broader community. The New York Academy of Medicine, a non-profit organization based in East Harlem whose mission is to address the health challenges facing the world's urban populations, co-convenes and supports the effort with planning, evaluation, and communications expertise.

Strategies - The Evidence Base for Effective Interventions

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Diabetes Care Quality Improvement: A Resource Guide for State Action

CDC Guide to Breastfeeding Strategies
Provides state and local community members with information to choose the breastfeeding intervention strategies that best meet their needs.

CDC Guidance/Technical Assistance Manual
A reference document including evidence-based nutrition and physical activity interventions to prevent and control obesity and other chronic diseases.

Diabetes Prevention Program, National Institutes of Health
The Diabetes Prevention Program demonstrated that lifestyle change, such as weight loss and increased physical activity, among people with pre-diabetes reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes by 58 percent and may return blood glucose levels to normal. In adults over the age of 60, the risk was reduced by 71 percent.

Guide to Community Preventive Services (The Community Guide) - Diabetes Prevention and Control
A systematic review of the effectiveness of healthcare system-level interventions and diabetes self-management education.

Guide to Community Preventive Services (The Community Guide) - Nutrition
A systematic review of the effectiveness of school based nutrition programs.

Guide to Community Preventive Services (The Community Guide) - Physical Activity
A systematic review of the effectiveness of approaches to improve physical activity:
1) informational, 2) behavioral, and 3) environmental and policy approaches.

Guide to Community Preventive Services (The Community Guide) - Worksites
Systematic reviews on various aspects of worksite health promotion give employers and organizations an evidence base to determine approaches effective in promoting healthy lifestyles, preventing disease, and increasing the number of people who receive appropriate preventive counseling and screening.

Healthy Food, Healthy Communities: Promising Strategies to Improve Access to Fresh, Healthy Food and Transform Communities
A new report released by PolicyLink looks at the impact of this access gap and ongoing strategies to develop new grocery stores, and help existing grocers, farmers' markets, bodegas, corner stores and other local food retailers expand their healthy food choices.

County Strategies and Partners Matrix

The County Strategies and Partners Matrix for Physical Activity and Nutrition was compiled from the 2010-2013 community health assessments submitted in 2009 by 32 local health departments. It describes how local health departments collaborate with hospitals and community organizations to plan and address this priority to improve population health outcomes.

Reports

All Ages

CDC Report about the Association Between School-Based Physical Activity, Including Physical Education, and Academic Performance
Student physical activity may help improve academic performance including academic achievement; academic behavior; and factors that can positively influence academic achievement. This report is a literature review that examines the existing research on the relationship between school-based physical activity, including physical education and academic performance. It spans 23 years of research and includes 50 studies.

Exercise and Physical Activity: Your Everyday Guide
The National Institute on Aging has updated "Exercise and Physical Activity: Your Everyday Guide." The National Institute on Aging is part of the National Institutes of Health, and the goal of their research is to improve the health and well-being of older adults.

The Healthy Communities, Obesity Prevention and the Law
Communities interested in using laws to address obesity will find helpful this research report from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Promoting Healthy Communities and Preventing Childhood Obesity: Trends in Recent Legislation provides an overview of a wide variety of state legislation enacted in 2009.

The Keystone Forum on Away-From-Home Foods: Opportunities for Preventing Weight Gain and Obesity - Final Report, May 2006
This report describes current patterns in eating away from home and potential strategies to reduce calorie consumption in these settings. The report examines: 1) Understanding and influencing consumer behavior with regard to away-from-home foods; (2) increasing the availability of lower-calorie products, menu items, and meals at establishments that provide away-from-home foods; and (3) providing consumers with nutrition information regarding away-from-home foods.

Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans
The Federal Government has issued its first-ever physical activity guidelines. They describe the types and amounts of physical activities that offer substantial health benefits.

Recipes for Change: Healthy Food in Every Community
The just-released Convergence Partnership's Recipes for Change: Healthy Food in Every Community, authored by the Prevention Institute, aims to increase access to healthy foods by highlighting the innovative prevention strategies already working in communities across the country. Recipes for Change showcases opportunities to change the food system to benefit our physical, economic, social, and environmental health: from fresh food financing to school nutrition standards to food procurement policies. Fueled by research, innovative policies, and grassroots energy, the movement to increase access to healthy foods and to create a sustainable, equitable food system can provide a springboard for public action and local activism.

Reversing Obesity in NYC
This October 2008 report educates people about food policy choices for New York City. The target audience is health professionals, advocates, and policy makers.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Briefs: Playgrounds and Trails Can Support Physical Activity
The first brief shows that when playgrounds are safe to use and easy to access, they're more likely to help children be active. Locating playgrounds close to home and ensuring that they have safe, well-maintained equipment brings more kids to the playground and helps them get more physical activity while they are there. The second brief notes that a growing body of research shows walking, biking and hiking trails to be a cost-effective way to promote physical activity and potentially even reduce medical costs. It also finds that more research on children's use of trails is needed.

Robert Wood Johnson Reports on Physical Activity
The environment in which people live can make it easier, or more challenging, to be physically active. Physical changes to communities can create safe, healthy environments that encourage and promote active living.

Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity - Yale University
This report describes policy initiatives to increase the availability of healthy foods in low-income neighborhoods.

RWJF Toolkit Offers Resources to Prevent Childhood Obesity
Leadership for Healthy Communities, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, created an Action Strategies Toolkit, in close collaboration with 11 national policy-maker organizations. The toolkit offers practical examples of policy approaches and resources that can help state and local policy-makers prevent childhood obesity and improve children's health.

United States Dietary Guidelines for Americans
The guidelines are jointly issued by the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services. They provide authoritative advice for people two years and older about how good dietary habits can promote health and reduce risk for major chronic diseases.

United States National Physical Activity Plan
The United States National Physical Activity Plan is a comprehensive set of policies, programs, and initiatives that aim to increase physical activity in all segments of the population. The Plan is the product of a private-public sector collaborative. Hundreds of organizations are working together to change our communities in ways that will enable every American to be sufficiently physically active. The Plan aims to create a national culture that supports physically active lifestyles. Its ultimate purpose is to improve health, prevent disease and disability, and enhance quality of life.

Children

Childhood Obesity, Volume 16, Number 1 Spring 2006
This volume reviews evidence on how the dramatic changes in ways Americans, work, live and eat may have caused obesity to increase and examines how best to address each of the possible causes.

Food Marketing to Children and Youth: Threat or Opportunity?
This report provides a comprehensive review of the scientific evidence on the influence of food marketing on diets and diet-related health of children and youth. It includes recommendations for different segments of society to guide the development of effective marketing and advertising strategies that promote healthier foods, beverages, and meal options for children and youth.

Local Government Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) released Local Government Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity, a report that identifies specific actions that local governments can take to improve healthy eating and increase physical activity in communities. Highlighted in the report are twelve policies that have the greatest potential for impact, including incentive programs to attract grocery stores to underserved areas, complete streets policies, and joint use. The report underscores the opportunity for local communities to promote health equity through implementation of these actions. IOM's careful examination of these policies and its resulting recommendations adds another layer of consensus to the growing momentum for environmental and policy change efforts across the country.

Nutrition Standards for Foods in Schools: Leading the Way toward Healthier Youth
This report describes IOM's recommendations about appropriate nutritional standards for the availability, sale, content and consumption of foods in schools.

Nutrition Standards and Meal Requirements for National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs: Phase 1 Proposed Approach for Recommending Revisions.
This report provides the IOM committee's approach for school lunch and breakfast programs prepared at the request of USDA.

Preventing Childhood Obesity: Health in the Balance
This report examines the nature, extent, and consequences of obesity in children and youth, including the social, environmental, and dietary factors responsible for its increased prevalence. It provides goals and recommendations for preventing obesity and promoting healthy weight in children.

Progress in Preventing Childhood Obesity: How Do We Measure Up?
This report describes progress made by obesity prevention initiatives in the United States over the past two years. The report emphasizes the importance of childhood obesity prevention policies and programs.

Progress in Preventing Childhood Obesity: Focus on Communities
An Institute of Medicine (IOM) symposium describes viable strategies and promising practices and approaches for obesity prevention.

Progress in Preventing Childhood Obesity: Focus on Industry
An IOM symposium summary highlights promising practices and approaches for addressing barriers to obesity prevention initiatives for schools, communities and industry.

Progress in Preventing Childhood Obesity: Focus on Schools
This brief summary addresses themes for moving forward with obesity prevention efforts including empowering local schools and communities, and developing long-term strategic plans.

Reducing Children's TV Time to Reduce the Risk of Childhood Overweight: The Children's Media Use Study (March 2007).
This study identifies many of the challenges in effectively communicating with families on limiting children's screen time and discusses the issues that must be addressed when developing messages.

Safe Routes to School
This document reports on the first three years of this program - what communities are accomplishing, where the program is today and where it can take this country in the future.

Medicaid Managed Care Performance Improvement Projects. 2009-2010 Pediatric Obesity-Summary of Projects
This summary describes 2009-2010 projects by managed care providers targeted at reducing childhood obesity.

School Districts' Compliance with Physical Education Regulations
A sample of school districts across New York State indicates that elementary school students are not receiving State-required physical education classes, according to an audit released by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. Schools are generally meeting State physical education requirements for middle and high school students, but are falling short for students in kindergarten through sixth grade.

Resources

CDC Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity

CDC provides information about public health approaches to address the role of nutrition and physical activity in improving the public's health and preventing and controlling chronic disease. It includes epidemiological and behavioral research, surveillance, training and education, intervention development, health promotion and leadership, policy and environmental change, communication and social marketing, and partnership development.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest

This organization provides information on a variety of nutrition issues including trans fat, menu labeling, sugar-sweetened beverages, school nutrition policies and more.

CDC Weight Management Research to Practice Guides

An overview of the science on different nutrition topics is summarized for public health professionals, including implications for practice. Topics to date include away-from-home food consumption, fruit and vegetable consumption, portion sizes, decreasing sugar-sweetened beverages consumption, breastfeeding and pediatric overweight risk reduction, and low-energy-dense foods.

Maternal and Child Health Library

The Maternal and Child Health Library at Georgetown University has released a new edition of the knowledge path, Physical Activity and Children and Adolescents. This electronic guide points to resources that analyze data, describe public health campaigns and other promotion programs, and report on research aimed at identifying promising strategies for improving physical activity levels within families, schools and after-school programs, child care and early childhood education settings, and communities. The knowledge path also presents resources about physical activity for children and adolescents with special health care needs.

National Diabetes Education Program

The National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) is a federally-funded program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The program includes over 200 partners at the federal, state and local levels, working together to improve the treatment and outcomes for people with diabetes, promote early diagnosis, and prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes. NDEP translates the latest science and spreads the word that diabetes is serious, common, and costly, yet controllable and, for type 2, preventable.

Return on Investment

Worksite Wellness

This website provides examples of companies saving money in a variety of areas due to wellness programs at the worksite.

CDC Website to Help Employers Combat Obesity

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched LEANWorks!, a website designed to help businesses address obesity. LEAN stands for Leading Employees to Activity and Nutrition. The website was developed particularly for small and mid-size companies, which typically have limited resources to devote to obesity prevention efforts. CDC LEANWorks! helps employers calculate the cost of obesity for their organizations and develop tailored approaches to help control these costs through interventions such as fitness classes, lunchtime health education sessions, and weight management programs.

Healthy Workforce 2010: An Essential Health Promotion Sourcebook for Employers, Large and Small

This resource is a guide for large and small employers to plan effective health promotion programs for their employees, providing a positive return on investment.

Community-Based Physical Activity Interventions
Seven physical activity interventions to reduce disease incidence are cost-effective and offer good value for money spent.
American Journal of Health Promotion: Economic Return on Investment of Worksite Wellness

Economic Return on Investment of Worksite Wellness is a formal meta-evaluation of 56 economic return studies of worksite health promotion programs.

Partners

More Information

Bureau of Community Chronic Disease Prevention
Address: Riverview Center, Room 350. 150 Broadway, Albany, NY 12204
Email: hhp@health.state.ny.us
Voice: 518-408-5142
Fax: 518-474-3356

Division of Nutrition
Address: Riverview Center,6th Floor West, 150 Broadway, Albany, NY 12204
Email: ewph1@health.state.ny.us
Voice: 518-402-7090
Fax: 518-402-7220

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Prevention Agenda Toward the Healthiest State - Physical Activity and Nutrition

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Major causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States are related to poor diet and physical inactivity. By maintaining a healthy diet and being physically active, individuals can achieve a healthy weight and reduce their risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and some forms of cancer, and strengthen bones to reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

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Youth Tech Health: Resources for Physical Wellness

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Youth Tech Health: Resources for Physical Wellness

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Physical wellness and nutrition are important at every age, including teenage years where youth learn physical health habits that they often carry into adulthood. The websites below offer tips to health educators and processionals for designing effective health and wellness programs, in addition to websites designed for teens to take personal initiative in improving and maintaining wellness and good nutrition.

Much thanks to the National Library of Medicine for funding this resource list.

Staying Healthy with HIV: Nutrition/Food Safety
AIDSinfo, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health
The National Library of Medicine's AIDSinfo provides in-depth clinical resources related to HIV and AIDS, including interactive tutorials, clinical resources, and HIV/AIDS clinical trials. For providers seeing patients with HIV and AIDS, AIDSinfo has a nutrition and food safety page that shares resources on how to stay healthy with HIV. This site also provides HIV facts, statistics, and health care resources specifically for the general public, teenagers, health professionals, and researchers.

TeensHealth
TeensHealth website is designed for teenagers and also offers resources for parents. It offers quizzes, a questions and answers section for teens' most commonly asked health questions, and interactive health activities. Providers, health professionals, educators, and parents can refer youth to the website for accurate health information, especially regarding physical health and healthy eating.

Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
The YRBSS reports national surveillance data for youth behaviors in six areas, including unhealthy dietary behaviors and inadequate physical activity. Fact sheets and interactive data tables that can be customized by year and subpopulation make this resource particularly useful for grant proposal writing, presentations, and acquiring general information about a variety of trends in youth health behaviors.

Today is for Tomorrow
Today is for Tomorrow is a website designed by YTH that provides information, tips, videos, and humorous links regarding a variety of health topics, including physical health and wellness. Teens have the option of signing up for weekly health tips delivered to their mobile phone and engaging in a Tumblr site that is also part of the Today is for Tomorrow initiative.

Nutrition, Physical Activity & Obesity topic
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
The CDC's website offers guidelines, strategies, statistics, fact sheets, and more regarding adolescent nutrition and physical activity behaviors. The site also features program success stories where programs that have been implemented and were successful are summarized and highlighted. These success stories are available for download.

Bright Futures for Women's Health and Wellness
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Bright Futures for Women's Health and Wellness provides toolkits specific to the physical health and nutrition needs of adolescent women. Resources include handouts and tools for young women, including wallet cards designed to provide quick reminders of health eating and exercise habits.

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Resources for Youth Physical Wellness and Nutrition | YTH

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Physical wellness and nutrition are important at every age, including teenage years where youth learn physical health habits that they often carry into adulthood. The websites below offer tips to health educators and processionals for designing effective health and wellness programs, in addition to websites designed for [...]

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Planned Parenthood Federation of America is a nonprofit organization that provides sexual health care in the United States and globally.

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TedTalk videos on varied health topics.

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TED-Ed lessons on the subject Health. TED-Ed celebrates the ideas of teachers and students around the world. Discover hundreds of animated lessons, create customized lessons, and share your big ideas.

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US Department of Health & Human Services: President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition

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US Department of Health & Human Services: President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition

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President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition

The President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition (PCSFN) is a federal advisory committee that aims to promote healthy eating and physical activity for all Americans, regardless of background or ability.

President Biden issues Executive Order 14048, renewing the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition until September 30, 2023.  This Executive Order allows for continued promotion of the National Youth Sports Strategy, and provides for the work of the Council to include a focus on expanding national awareness of the importance of mental health as it pertains to physical fitness and nutrition.

News & Announcements

Posted on May 2, 2022

Since 1983, each President has proclaimed May as National Physical Fitness and Sports Month to promote the importance of physical activity, physical fitness, and sports participation. Like his predecessors, President Biden issued a Presidential proclamation celebrating this annual event, observing that “Fitness and sports are not only good for our physical health, they also improve the quality of our lives overall...

Read more about #MoveInMay to Celebrate National Physical Fitness and Sports Month

Check out all blog posts about PCSFN.

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The President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition (PCSFN) is a federal advisory committee that aims to promote healthy eating and physical activity for all Americans, regardless of background or ability.

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U.S. Health & Human Services: Physical Health and Fitness Facts & Statistics

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U.S. Health & Human Services: Physical Health and Fitness Facts & Statistics

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Sexually Transmitted Diseases

While sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) affect individuals of all ages, STDs take a particularly heavy toll on young people. CDC estimates that youth ages 15-24 account for almost half of the 26 million new sexually transmitted infections that occurred in the United States in 2018. The resources on this page provide information about the impact of STDs on youth as well as resources for reaching this population.

Baltimore City Health Department and CARS team up to empower young leaders to reach their peers about sexual health

Let's Talk About Sexual Health - Video for doctors and young adults on how to talk about sexual health.

Podcast: STD Awareness: Reaching Youth - Dr. Gail Bolan, Director of CDC's Division of STD Prevention, discusses the role healthcare providers play in educating young patients about sexual health and STD prevention.

STI Prevalence, Incidence, and Cost Estimates: 1 in 5 people in the United States had an STI on any given day in 2018. These updated estimates provide the clearest picture to date of how common and costly STIs are in the United States. (January 25, 2021)

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STDs in Adolescents and Young Adults - information from CDC

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The World Health Organization defines sexual health as a state of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being in relation to sexuality; it is not merely the absence of disease, dysfunction or infirmity. Sexual health requires a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships, as well as the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination and violence.[1]

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Find CDC resources to protect your sexual health