Category: Data Systems

Introducing the NCHS Data Query System

In today’s ever-changing public health landscape, access to comprehensive data is essential for informed decision-making. That’s why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) has launched its newest tool: the Data Query System (DQS). DQS brings together data from major NCHS and external sources into one easy-to-use online tool. Read More >

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CDC Extends Tool to Monitor Severe Obesity Among Children and Adolescents

Image of Children's Growth Charts

CDC has added to its BMI-for-age growth charts to enable consistent, meaningful tracking of growth in the nearly one in five U.S. children and adolescents who have obesity. The percentage of children and adolescents with severe obesity has nearly quadrupled over the last five decades, from 1% in the early 1970s to 6.1% in 2017-18. Read More >

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New Estimates for 15 selected health measures based on data from the January–March 2015 National Health Interview Survey

A new report from NCHS updates estimates for 15 selected health measures based on data from the January–March 2015 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and presents estimates from 1997 through 2014 for comparison. The 15 Early Release measures are being published prior to final data editing and final weighting to provide access to the most recent Read More >

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Ask the Expert: Dr. Kirsten Herrick

Dr. Kirsten Herrick

The NHANES National Youth Fitness Survey (NNYFS) was developed as a model of comprehensive, youth-targeted fitness and nutrition data collection. As a standalone survey conducted alongside the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), NNYFS collected data on exercise and nutrition habits of U.S. children aged 3 to 15, through interviews and fitness tests conducted in a Read More >

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Early Release of Selected Estimates Based on Data From the 2013 National Health Interview Survey

A new report from NCHS updates estimates for 15 selected health measures based on data from the 2013 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and presents estimates from 1997 through 2012 for comparison. The 15 Early Release measures are being published prior to final data editing and final weighting to provide access to the most recent information Read More >

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Director’s Corner—NCHS and Public Health

Charles Rothwell, NCHS Director

Monday, April 7, marks the beginning of National Public Health Week. For the past 20 years, the American Public Health Association has observed National Public Health Week as a time to recognize the contributions of public health and highlight issues that are important to improving our nation’s health. This makes it a good time reflect Read More >

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Director’s Corner—New Year, New Challenges, New Opportunities

Charles Rothwell, NCHS Director

Every year brings its own set of challenges, opportunities, and successes, and 2013 was certainly no exception. Over the course of the year, a number of long-term leaders chose to retire. Center Director Dr. Edward Sondik; Stephanie Ventura, Chief of the Reproductive Statistics Branch; Marjorie Greenberg, Chief of the Classifications and Public Health Data Standards Read More >

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New Survey Measures the Fitness of America’s Youth

Physical Activity

The NHANES National Youth Fitness Survey (NYFS), conducted as a separate survey alongside the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), is receiving an enthusiastic response from its young participants. For the NYFS team in the Division of Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, attaining good response rates is critical to the program’s success. The NYFS, funded Read More >

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2012 National Conference on Health Statistics

Dr. Mohammed Akhter speaks at Wednesday's plenary session.

More than 1,000 attendees from federal and regional governments, academia, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector converged on the Renaissance Washington DC Downtown Hotel August 6–8 for the 2012 National Conference on Health Statistics.   Plenary Session Speakers Address Health, Statistical Challenges National leaders in statistics, health research, and health policy shared the stage at Read More >

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Ask the Expert: Dr. David Huang

Dr. David Huang

[Editor’s note: NCHS is responsible for monitoring and analyzing data for the HHS Healthy People program. In addition, about one-third of the program’s objectives use NCHS-collected data. We spoke with Dr. David Huang of the Office of Analysis and Epidemiology (OAE) about the Healthy People program.]   Q. Healthy People 2010: Final Review comes out Read More >

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On the Path to Understanding Autism

Data Brief 97, “Diagnostic History and Treatment of School-aged Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Special Health Care Needs,” published in May 2012, is available for download from the NCHS website.   A collaborative effort between NCHS, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and the federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) has provided Read More >

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Milestones and Honors

Dr. Gladys Martinez and Dr. Casey Copen

Dr. Nathaniel Schenker Elected American Statistical Association 2014 President The American Statistical Association (ASA), the world’s largest community of statisticians, has elected NCHS’s Dr. Nathaniel Schenker to serve as ASA’s 109th president.  Dr. Schenker will serve as president-elect in 2013 and become president on January 1, 2014.  He formerly served as the association’s vice president. Read More >

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

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 Read More >

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New report on CAM therapy

A new report was released by NCHS in collaboration with NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. This report covers complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use in the United States and common CAM therapies used by adults and children. Highlights: 4 in 10 adults use CAM therapy. 1 in 9 children use CAM therapy. Click here for Read More >

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A brief look at accidental death for teens

Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death for U.S. teenagers 15-19 years of age (2005, most recent data available). The top three causes- Motor Vehicle Traffic accounted for 73% of these deaths. Poisoning accounted for 9.5%. Drowning accounted for 4.7%. Click here to visit CDC’s Injury Center. To get other mortality statistics, please visit Read More >

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A brief look at asthma

Two weeks ago, NCHS released a report concerning the prevalence of food allergies in children. In this report, the authors reported that “children with food allergy are two to four times more likely to have other related conditions such as asthma and other allergies, compared with children without food allergies.” According to the report, about Read More >

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