Summary health statistics for U.S. adults: National Health Interview Survey, 1997

Abstract

This report presents health statistics from the 1997 National Health Interview Survey for the civilian noninstitutionalized adult population, classified by sex, age, race and Hispanic origin, poverty status, region of residence, and where appropriate, education, income, health insurance coverage, marital status, and place of residence. The topics covered are health status and limitations in activity, health care access and utilization, health behaviors and lifestyle, chronic condition prevalence, and knowledge and attitudes toward the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Source of Data The NHIS is a multistage probability sample survey conducted annually by interviewers of the U.S. Census Bureau for the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and is representative of the civilian noninstitutionalized U.S. population. Data are collected during face-to-face interviews. Highlights Among adults 18 years of age or over, 12% had ever been told by a doctor or health professional that they had heart disease, 6% had ever been told they had coronary heart disease, and 19% had been told on two visits or more that they had hypertension. Nearly a quarter of adults were current smokers, 23% were former smokers, and 52% had never smoked. Sixty-one percent did not engage in any leisure-time vigorous physical activity, while approximately 24% engaged in such activity three times or more per week. Based on estimates of body mass index, 4% of adults were underweight, 42% were at a healthy weight, 35% were overweight, and 19% were obese.