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Health

Overview

It is widely known that Americans’ health status has declined. Lincoln, like the U.S., is experiencing increasing rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease deaths, and other indicators. Lincoln, however, still has lower rates than the U.S. as a whole on many measures.

In Lincoln, there are large geographic disparities in life expectancy and the percentage of pregnant women who receive first trimester care.  Census tracts with lower-than-average life expectancy and the lowest percentage of pregnant women receiving first trimester care are located near downtown where poverty is most prevalent.

In sum, Lincoln’s overall health is deteriorating, but not as rapidly as the U.S. as a whole. Both Lincoln and the United States have much ground to regain in reversing current poor health trends.

Footnotes

1.  Sherry, M., Kochanek, K., Jiaquan, X., & Arias, E. (December, 2021). Mortality in the United States, 2020 (NCHS Data Brief no. 427). National Center for Health Statistics. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db427.pdf
2.  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, April 28). About chronic diseases. https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/about/index.htm
3.  Obesity is defined as having a Body Mass Index of 30 to 99.8 and is calculated based on responses to questions about height and weight. 
4.  Diabetes rates are based in individual report that they have been diagnosed with diabetes. 
5.  Physical inactivity is based on persons reporting no leisure-time physical activity in the past 30 days.
6.  Community Health Endowment. (2021). Place Matters 4.0 Community Mapping Project 2021. https://www.chelincoln.org/placematters/
7.  Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department (2021). Vital statistics: Birth data Lancaster County 2020. https://www.lincoln.ne.gov/City/Departments/Health-Department/Public-Health-Informatics-and-Planning/Data-and-Reports/Vital-Statistics
8.  National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2017, January 31). What is prenatal care and why is it important? https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/pregnancy/conditioninfo/prenatal-care
9.  Community Health Endowment. (2021). Place Matters 4.0 Community Mapping Project 2021. https://www.chelincoln.org/placematters/
10.  Cutland, C., Lackritz, E., Mallett-Moore, T., Bardaji, A., Chandrasekaran, R., Lahariya, C., Imran Nisar, M., Tapia, M., Pathirana, J., Kochhar, S. & Muñoz, F. (2017). Low birth weight: Case definition & guidelines for data collection, analysis, and presentation of maternal immunization safety data. Vaccine, 35(48) 6492-6500. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2017.01.049
11.  Hoffman, S. D., & Maynard, R. A. (Eds.). (2008). Kids having kids: Economic costs and social consequences of teen pregnancy (2nd ed.). Urban Institute Press.
12.  National Institute of Mental Health. (2022, January). Mental illness. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness
13.  National Center for Health Statistics (2021). About multiple cause of death, 1999–2020. CDC WONDER online database.
14.  Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department (2021). Vital statistics: Death data Lancaster County 2020. https://www.lincoln.ne.gov/City/Departments/Health-Department/Public-Health-Informatics-and-Planning/Data-and-Reports/Vital-Statistics
15.  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012, September 8). Marijuana use and public health: Teens. https://www.cdc.gov/marijuana/health-effects/teens.html
16. Minkoff, K. (2001). Developing standards of care for individuals with co-occurring psychiatric and substance use disorders. Psychiatric Services, 52(5), 597-599.
17.  National Alliance to End Homelessness. (2006). Chronic Homelessness Brief. Washington, DC: National Alliance to End Homelessness.