Chronic Diseases

The Power to Prevent, 

the Call to Control 

AT A GLANCE

2009

NATIONAL CENTER FOR CHRONIC DISEASE PREVENTION AND HEALTH PROMOTION

IMPROVING HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE FOR ALL PEOPLE
What Are Chronic Diseases?

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Chronic diseases are noncommunicable illnesses that are

prolonged in duration, do not resolve spontaneously, and are 

rarely cured completely. Examples of chronic diseases include 

heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and arthritis.

•	Chronic diseases cause 7 in 10 deaths each year in the 

United States.

•	About 133 million Americans—nearly 1 in 2 adults—live 

with at least one chronic illness.

•	More than 75% of health care costs are due to chronic

conditions.

•	Approximately one-fourth of persons living with a chronic 

illness experience significant limitations in daily activities.

•	The percentage of U.S. children and adolescents with

a chronic health condition has increased from 1.8% in the 

1960s to more than 7% in 2004.

Although chronic diseases are more common among older 

adults, they affect people of all ages and are now recognized 

as a leading health concern of the nation. Growing evidence 

indicates that a comprehensive approach to prevention can save 

tremendous costs and needless suffering.

Chronic Diseases Are Preventable

Chronic diseases are the most common and costly of all health 

problems, but they are also the most preventable. Four common, health-damaging, but modifiable behaviors—tobacco use, 

insufficient physical activity, poor eating habits, and excessive 

alcohol use—are responsible for much of the illness, disability, 

and premature death related to chronic diseases.

Risk Behaviors: The Facts

•	More than 43 million (about 1 in 5) U.S. adults smoke.

•	1 in 5 U.S. high school students are current smokers.

•	More than one-third of all U.S. adults fail to meet 

minimum recommendations for aerobic physical 

activity based on the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines 

for Americans.

•	Only 1 in 3 U.S. high school students participates

in daily physical education classes. 

•	More than 60% of U.S. children and adolescents

eat more than the recommended daily amounts

of saturated fat.

•	Only 24% of U.S. adults and 20% of U.S. high

school students eat five or more servings of fruits

and vegetables per day.

•	About 1 in 6 Americans aged 18 years and older engage 

in binge drinking (5 or more drinks for men and 4 or 

more drinks for women during a single occasion) in the 

past 30 days.

•	Nearly 45% of U.S. high school students report having 

had at least one drink of alcohol in the past 30 days.

Key Chronic Diseases: The Facts

•	Heart disease and stroke are the first and third leading 

causes of death, accounting for more than 30% of all 

U.S. deaths each year.

•	Cancer, the second leading cause of death, claims more 

than half a million lives each year.

•	Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, nontraumatic lower extremity amputations, and new cases 

of blindness each year among U.S. adults aged 20–74 

years.

•	Arthritis, the most common cause of disability, limits 

activity for 19 million U.S. adults.

•	Obesity has become a major health concern for people 

of all ages. 1 in every 3 adults and nearly 1 in every 5 

young people aged 6–19 are obese.
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CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and 

Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) is at the forefront of the 

nation’s efforts to promote health and well-being through

the prevention and control of chronic diseases. With Fiscal Year 

2008 resources totaling approximately $931 million,

NCCDPHP provides national leadership to achieve three

primary goals:

•	Prevent, delay, detect, and control chronic diseases.

•	Contribute to chronic disease research and apply that 

research to put practical and effective intervention strategies 

into practice.

•	Achieve equity in health by eliminating racial and ethnic 

disparities and achieving optimal health for all Americans.

NCCDPHP’s 10-Division structure reflects its work across the 

life span, settings, risk factors, and diseases.

Coordination across the divisions is critical for many reasons. 

For example, the same risk factors—such as smoking

or poor nutrition—cause multiple chronic diseases. The same 

populations that are at risk for one chronic disease are often at 

risk for other diseases. Finally, the same intervention strategies 

can combat multiple chronic diseases and risk factors.

NCCDPHP’s Public Health Interventions

NCCDPHP provides expertise and leadership critical to 

establishing interventions to prevent chronic diseases and 

promote the health of individuals and communities. As part of 

the nation’s primary federal public health agency, NCCDPHP 

supports the nation’s public health infrastructure working with 

health care providers, public health professionals, educators, and 

policy makers.

NCCDPHP leads partnerships and collaborates fully with state 

and local health and education agencies, community groups, 

voluntary associations, private organizations, and other federal 

agencies. To achieve optimal health for all, NCCDPHP’s work 

on the social determinants of health extends beyond the scope 

of traditional public health practice to include collaboration 

in education, housing, transportation, justice, labor, and other 

sectors.

NCCDPHP supports the following activities to prevent and 

control chronic diseases:

Surveillance and Applied Research

Public health surveillance is the ongoing systematic collection, 

analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of data about health. 

National, state, tribal, and local public health professionals use 

these data to

•	Measure and monitor trends in the burden of chronic 

diseases and associated risk factors particularly in high-risk 

populations.

•	Guide the planning, implementation, and evaluation

of public health programs and policies.

•	Prioritize the allocation of limited health resources.

•	Provide a basis for public health research.

NCCDPHP conducts several public health surveillance systems including, but not limited to, the Behavioral Risk Factor 

Surveillance System, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, 

Youth Tobacco Survey, Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring 

System, and the National Program of Cancer Registries.

CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Priority

Conditions

 • Heart Disease 

 • Stroke

 • Cancer

 • Diabetes

 • Obesity

 • Arthritis 

 • Oral Health

 • Tobacco

 • Nutrition

 • Physical Activity

 • Alcohol

 • Genomics

Underlying

Risk Factors

Life Span

and Settings

 • Worksites

 • Schools

 • Communities 

 • Health Systems

 • Infants

 • Children and

 Adolescents

 • Adults and

 Older Adults

Framework for Preventing Chronic Disease and 

Promoting Health
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For more information please contact Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

4770 Buford Highway NE, Mail Stop K–40, Atlanta, GA 30341-5395

Telephone: 770-488-5131 • E-mail: cdcinfo@cdc.gov • Web: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp

CS123157

CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (continued)

NCCDPHP also conducts applied research to examine the 

effectiveness of interventions such as community-based policies 

in preventing and delaying disease in real world settings. Related 

research examines the best ways to quickly move effective interventions into practice to reach populations at greatest risk.

For example, NCCDPHP’s Prevention Research Centers (PRC) 

are a network of more than 30 academic centers that conduct 

research to address health problems identified by communities. 

PRCs use methods that engage communities in identifying

critical problems and solutions.

Promotion of Policy, Environmental, and Systems Changes 

at the State and Community Levels

Policies that support indoor air regulations, menu labeling, 

advertising restrictions, pricing strategies, and changes to the 

built environment create environments that promote and 

protect health. Preventing disease requires improving the health 

status of people at every stage of life. Such a task is not possible 

one person at a time; rather, it can be achieved only by improving the surrounding social and physical environments.

During the past 4 decades, for example, the Office on Smoking

and Health has reviewed the available research and provided 

nearly 30 high-impact, scientific reports on the health and 

economic burden of tobacco use. Several of these reports have 

contributed to the implementation of tobacco control policies, 

including the 2006 Surgeon General’s Report on The Health 

Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke. This 

report helped inform decisions by policy makers and businesses 

to establish smoke-free policies that have contributed to reducing smoking rates and levels of secondhand smoke exposures 

among nonsmokers.

Health Communications

NCCDPHP develops and uses a variety of health communication strategies that deliver culturally appropriate and effective 

health promotion messages. These interventions include paid 

advertising, media advocacy, public relations, health promotion 

activities, and campaigns that target specific audiences through 

innovative channels.

For example, the Screen for Life: National Colorectal Cancer 

Action Campaign educates and informs men and women aged 

50 years and older about the importance of having regular

colorectal cancer screening tests.

Health Care System Linkages

Achieving the best preventive health care is vital to successful 

health outcomes. NCCDPHP supports the work of the health 

care system through provision of services such as mammography 

and tobacco cessation counseling for underserved populations, 

work on issues of health care access, planned care, selfmanagement, patient navigation, and quality prevention 

services. NCCDPHP also supports community-based public 

health efforts that can provide more intensive and sustained 

interventions than are possible in most health care settings.

For example, the Translating Research into Action for Diabetes 

(TRIAD) study works to improve the quality of care and life

for people with diabetes. It also provides practical information 

on how to better implement effective treatments for patients 

with diabetes in U.S. managed care settings.

Future Directions

Since its inception 20 years ago, NCCDPHP and its partners 

have achieved many successes in preventing chronic disease and 

its complications. Yet more needs to be done. Effective interventions that save money and lives are underutilized and often fail 

to reach those most in need. CDC looks forward to expanding 

its chronic disease and health promotion work to ensure the 

greatest health for all Americans.