CDC: most Americans report excellent, good health

(HealthDay)—Most Americans report having excellent or good health and have a usual place to go for medical care, according to a report published March 13 for the National Health Interview Survey Early Release Program.

Tainya C. Clarke, Ph.D., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, and colleagues provide updated estimates for selected health measures using the latest data from the National Health Interview Survey.

The researchers note that from January to September 2018, 87.7 percent of people had a usual place to go for medical care, which was not significantly different from the 2017 estimate of 88.3 percent. From January to September 2018, 4.7 percent of persons failed to obtained needed medical care at some time during the previous 12 months, which did not differ significantly from 4.5 percent in 2017. For adults aged 20 years and older, the prevalence of obesity was 31.7 percent from January to September 2018. For the same time period, 54.0 percent of adults aged 18 years and older met the 2008 federal physical activity guidelines. The percentage of adults who had ever been tested for HIV reached 42.9 percent, up from the 2017 estimate of 40.7 percent.

The percentage of people who had excellent or very good health was 66.3 percent for January to September 2018, which did not differ significantly from 66.4 percent in 2017.

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