Evidence-based Approach

Community Health Indicators have been chosen on the basis of the best available scientific evidence.  For example, CKHS will increase the proportion of: 

• Adults who are at a healthy weight and reduce the proportion of children and adolescents who are overweight or obese, because of the alarming increase in obesity in the United States.  Using a body mass index (weight in kilograms divided by height in meters), nearly 55% of the adult population were defined as overweight or obese in 1994, compared with 46% in 1980.  A similar increase has occurred in children over the age of six.
• Adults over the age of 50 who have a biennial fecal occult blood test, because detecting and treating colorectal cancer (the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States) has been proven to reduce mortality.
• Adolescents who refrain from using alcohol or illicit drugs, because the abuse of alcohol and controlled substances is associated with the country’s most serious health problems, including violence, injury, and the spread of HIV infection.