Profiles of Adolescent and Young Adult Health
Welcome to Profiles of Adolescent and Young Adult Health. This database presents national and state profiles of key measures of adolescent and young adult health. These measures are known as the 21 Critical Health Objectives for Adolescents and Young Adults, from Healthy People 2010.
This easy-to-use, online database allows users to assess recent progress in adolescent health by presenting data and text highlights for the baseline (1998-99) and final (2007-09) measures for the 21 Critical Health Objectives. The text and tables emphasize differences and disparities among groups of adolescents (e.g., by gender and race/ethnicity). Where possible, we compare patterns among groups within a state to national patterns.
Looking forward, the database provides a solid foundation for monitoring health in the long term, as efforts for Healthy People 2010 get underway. The Related Resources section below offers background information on adolescent health, the 21 Critical Health Objectives, Healthy People 2010, and Healthy People 2020.
Using the Database
Profiles are presented in two sections: the National Summary and the State Data. Other sections, which may be visited by clicking on tabs at the top of each page, include the Notes and Limitations, which provides detailed information about data collection and presentation, and Tools and Resources which offers guidance for using these data to improve adolescent and young adult health.
National Summary
National data for the 21 Critical Health Objectives are summarized by overall gender and race/ethnicity differences across the health issues. Follow the link below to view summaries and data by objective.
State Data
The information for each state vary based on available data; not every state contains complete information for every objective (please see Notes and Limitations for more information). Select a state from the menu in the right side-bar to view summaries and data tables for each state by objective.
Related Resources
The following provide additional background information:
- The Healthy People 2010 website describes the overall Healthy People initiative in detail; the site includes an extensive data section, with measures for the 21 critical objectives.
- The Healthy People 2020 adolescent health section presents an overview of adolescent health, objectives and other resources.
- Health of Adolescents and Young Adults: Trends in Achieving the 21 Critical National Health Objectives reviews the progress and trends made for each objective (2011, 8 pages)
- The 21 Critical Health Objectives – Table presents the exact measures for each objective. (4 pages)
- Trends in Adolescent and Young Adult Health in the United States reviews health trends for adolescents and young adults, providing a single source for a national health profile, using the most recent data. (2009, 17 pages)
Also, please see Tools and Resources for guidance in using these data to improve adolescent health.
This page will receive additional updates in the coming months. If you have a question about the website or are confused about how the data is presented, please contact us at urquhartj@peds.ucsf.edu. We plan to add additional questions and answers to this page based on user feedback.
