Healthy People 2010

Published in 2000, Healthy People 2010 is a set of 10-year health objectives for the United States developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The statement marks the third time HHS has outlined a comprehensive, nationwide health-promotion agenda since its first attempt in 1979. It has two overarching goals: to increase quality and years of healthy life, and to eliminate health disparities. The plan is divided into 28 focus areas containing 467 specific objectives. The objectives set out measurable goals for improvements in health status, risk reduction, public and professional awareness of prevention, delivery of health services, protective measures, surveillance, and evaluation to be achieved by 2010. Three of the objectives directly address obesity: increase the proportion of adults who are at a healthy weight; reduce the proportion of adults who are obese; and reduce the proportion of adolescents who are overweight or obese. Other objectives address obesity-related issues such as physical fitness and nutrition. Many government initiatives affiliated with Healthy People 2010 are charged with achieving the goals or evaluating progress toward the objectives. Despite these governmental programs and other prevention efforts, data published in the Healthy People Midcourse Review indicate that all three obesity-specific objectives have moved away from their target values.

The initiatives most closely related to Healthy People 2010 are DATA 2010, HealthierUS, Steps to a HealthierUS, the Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, and the Guide to Community Preventive Services. DATA 2010, developed by the National Center for Health Statistics, is an interactive database that compiles data for all Healthy People 2010 objectives. HealthierUS is a health-promotion program that shares common goals with Healthy People 2010; it is based on four pillars: “physical fitness,” “nutrition,” “prevention,” and “make healthy choices.” The Steps to a HealthierUS program funds community-based projects that embody the HealthierUS goals. The STEPS program uses information from DATA 2010 and progress toward Healthy People 2010 objectives to assess the efficacy of its programs. Finally, the Guide to Clinical Preventive Services and the Guide to Community Preventive Services both attempt to [Page 356]provide and disseminate a systematic review of public health information.

Healthy People 2010 is a national health-promoting agenda with the goal of improving the general health of Americans.

Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) have been used to establish a baseline for and assess the progress of all three obesity-specific Healthy People 2010 objectives. In the Healthy People 2010 Midcourse Review, all three objectives showed significant movement away from their targets. From 1988–94 to 1999–2002, the proportion of adults aged 20 years and over at a healthy weight (objective 19-1), defined as a body mass index (BMI) between 18.5 and 25, decreased from 42 to 33 percent. During the same period, the proportion of adults who were obese, defined as a BMI greater than 30 (objective 19-2), increased from 23 to 30 percent. And the proportion of children who were overweight (BMI greater than 25) or obese (objective 19-3) increased from 11 to 16 percent, away from the goal of 5 percent.

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