One in seven adults don’t know they have certain major chronic conditions

May 7, 2010

Findings from a new report, “Hypertension, High cholesterol, and Diabetes: Racial and Ethnic Prevalence Differences in US Adults, 1999-2006” were presented at last month’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) tour for members of the Association of Health Care Journalists in Chicago, IL. NHANES is a program of studies designed to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States. The new NHANES data found that 45 percent of adults had at least one of three diagnosed or undiagnosed chronic conditions: hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, or diabetes. The report also found the following:

  • Nearly one in seven U.S. adults (15%) had one or more of these conditions undiagnosed.
  • Non-Hispanic black persons were more likely than non-Hispanic white and Mexican-American persons to have at least one of the three conditions (diagnosed or undiagnosed).
  • Non-Hispanic black and non-Hispanic white persons were more likely than Mexican-American persons to have both diagnosed or undiagnosed hypertension and hyper-cholesterolemia.
  • Non-Hispanic black and Mexican-American persons were more likely than non-Hispanic white persons to have both diagnosed or undiagnosed hypertension and diabetes.

 The graph below displays the prevalence of diagnosed or undiagnosed chronic conditions by race and ethnic groups:

For more, visit: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db36.pdf

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Posted by Setareh Kamali

Cigarette smoking linked to depression in adults

April 21, 2010

Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (2005-2008) has found that adults ages 20 and over with depression were more likely to be cigarette smokers than those without depression.  This key finding is the focus of a new report from NCHS, “Depression and Smoking in the U.S. Household Population Aged 20 and Over, 2005-2008.” This report also found the following:                        

  • Women with depression had smoking rates similar to men with depression, while women without depression smoked less than men.
  • Over one-half of men with depression ages 40–54 were current smokers compared with 26 percent of men without depression of the same age.
  • Among women ages 40–54, of those with depression, 43 percent were smokers compared with 22 percent of those without depression.
  • Among adult smokers, those with depression smoked more heavily than those without depression. They were more likely to smoke their first cigarette within 5 minutes of awakening and to smoke more than one pack of cigarettes per day.
  • Adults with depression were less likely to quit smoking than those without depression.

The graph below shows the percentage of adult smokers with depression from 2005-2008:

 For more, visit: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db34.pdf

1 Comment | Depression, health behaviors, NHANES | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Setareh Kamali

Obesity – Americans still growing, but not as fast

January 14, 2010

New data in the latest Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) from NCHS statisticians show that the increasing rate of obesity may be slowing, although the prevalence of adults who are obese is still high. The numbers from 2007-2008 show that 33.8% of U.S. adults are obese (32.2% for men, 35.5% for women). The growth of the obesity rate in the U.S. over the past 40 years is depicted below.

Obesity by age, United States, 1971-1974 through 2005-2006:

For the data table, visit http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus08.pdf and see Trend Table 75.

Leave a Comment » | body mass index, National Center for Health Statistics, NHANES, Obesity, Overweight | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Megan Cox

Underweight older adults, children decrease in U.S.

July 15, 2009

Poor nutrition or underlying health conditions can sometimes cause a person to be underweight. Data from the 2003-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) showed that an estimated 1.8% of U.S. adults are underweight. Between 1988-1994 and 2003-2006, a statistically significant decrease in the percentage of those underweight was found only among those aged 60 and over. In this age group, the percentage underweight was 2.3% in 1988-1994 and 1.2% in 2003-2006.

For more, visit http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/underweight_adults.htm.

Results from the 2003-2006 NHANES showed that about 3.3% of children and adolescents aged 2-19 years are underweight. Trends from 1971-1974 to 2003-2006 show that there has been an overall significant decrease in underweight children and adolescents, from 5.1% to 3.3%. Underweight significantly decreased from 5.8% to 2.8% among 2-5 year olds and from 5.3% to 2.7% among 6-11 year olds. Among adolescents aged 12-19, underweight decreased, although not significantly, from 4.7% to 3.8% during the same time period.

For more, visit http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/underweight_children.htm.

Leave a Comment » | body mass index, children, height and weight tables, juvenile, National Center for Health Statistics, NHANES, Overweight | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Megan Cox