This figure illustrates the similarity between the objectives, the 10 traditional content areas, and the six adolescent risk behaviors. For years, the content areas and risk behaviors have been used to guide health education curriculum decisions in school districts across the nation. This surveillance and data system provides valuable information to teachers as they make curricular choices. Progress toward objectives is tracked and disseminated in the form of reviews. The reviews analyze movement toward or away from specific health outcomes for each objective.
Oral diseases are among the most common health problems in our nation.
Even though the oral health status of our population has improved in recent decades, dental-related diseases account for millions of sick days and cost billions of health care dollars each year. Surveillance on this objective reveals progress toward the 16 health outcomes related to oral health. The remaining outcomes target the oral health of adults. As discussed earlier, these adult-oriented outcomes frequently have their roots in oral health practices begun in childhood. Surveillance efforts indicate the at-risk populations that should be the target of oral health education.