Healthy New Hampshire 2010

Healthy New Hampshire 2010 was published in 2001 by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services in order to establish baselines and set goals for health indicators in the state. Eleven broad public health focus areas related to disease prevention and health promotion were chosen by the authors of the original report based on impact and amenability to intervention. These focus areas are as follows:

• Access to Quality Health Services
• Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs
• Cancer and Chronic Conditions
• Environmental Health
• Heart Disease, Stroke, and Diabetes
• Immunization and Infectious Diseases
• Injury and Violence Prevention
• Maternal, Infant, and Child Health
• Mental Health
• Nutrition and Physical Activity
• Reproductive and Sexual Health

Within each focus area, several objectives were chosen to guide interventions and policy development to improve the overall health of New Hampshire's residents.

Though results were mixed in all focus areas, targets for most objectives have been successfully surpassed, met, or approached in the categories: Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs; Cancer and Chronic Conditions; Environmental Health; Immunization and Infectious Diseases; and Reproductive and Sexual Health. Results were mixed for three focus areas: Injury and Violence Prevention, Mental Health, and Nutrition and Physical Activity. Health indicators have predominantly declined in the focus areas Access to Quality Health Services and Maternal, Infant, and Child Health. Changes in New Hampshire's data tended to follow national trends, though New Hampshire generally outperforms the national average on indicators of health.

This report discusses the eleven focus areas of Healthy New Hampshire 2010 in more detail, comparing baseline data to the most currently available updated information for each objective. This report also provides potential explanations for the observed changes.