As a nation, we need td know more about health, chronic illnesses and links to environmental factors. A national tracking system would provide an early warning to alert the public about what asthma is doing to our community, and provide researchers with information that can lead to better prevention and treatment approaches. Knowledge for prevention will save us so much - in quality of life and in health care dollars. The Center for Health Services Research has published an analysis of health status and health-promoting behaviors among Tennesseans. The CDC study quantified 21 measures of health status and health-promoting behaviors among citizens in each state, stratified by race.
Personal behaviors have a substantial impact on health.
The results for Tennessee were below those of many other states for many of these measures. The health-related behaviors for African Americans were significantly worse than for whites for seven of the 21 measures. These findings suggest opportunities for improvement. Most parameters for which Tennessee demonstrated poor results in this study reflect behaviors or practices that are amenable to action and for which effective best practices have been developed. A full copy of the report is available from The Center for Health Services Research.