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Health Risk Factors

Adult chronic health factors are better than the U.S. as a whole

Of the 10 leading causes of death in the United States, six are chronic diseases,1 and six in 10 Americans live with at least one chronic illness.2 Underlying many chronic health conditions are risk factors such as tobacco use and exposure, physical inactivity, and poor nutrition. Engaging in healthy behaviors greatly reduces the risk for illness and death due to chronic diseases.

  • In 2022, 30% of Lancaster County’s residents were obese. Lancaster County’s obesity rate3 has increased 22% since 2012, when 24% of residents were obese. This matches the same increase the U.S. has experienced since 2012 (22%).
    • Lancaster County’s obesity rate has declined 3 percentage points since its highest rate of 32% in 2021.
    • From 2007 through 2011, Lancaster County’s obesity rate had been lower than the national rate but equaled the national rate in 2018 and 2019. Since 2020, Lancaster County’s obesity rate has returned to being lower than the national rate. In 2022, Lancaster’s obesity rate was 4 percentage points lower than the national rate.
  • In 2022, 9% of Lancaster County’s residents were diagnosed with diabetes.
    • Lancaster County’s diabetes rate4 fluctuates but is lower than the national rate.
  • In 2022, 22% of Lancaster County residents reported not participating in any physical activity or exercise in the past month.
    • The physical inactivity5 rate in Lancaster County has been lower than the national rate since 2011.
Notes

Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System; national data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; local data from Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department.

Data shown through most recent year available. Sampling changes occurred in 2011, data from 2011 on may not be comparable to earlier data.

Footnotes
  1. Sherry, M., Kochanek, K., Jiaquan, X., & Arias, E. (December, 2021). Mortality in the United States, 2020 (NCHS Data Brief no. 427). National Center for Health Statistics.
  2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, April 28). About chronic diseases.
  3. Obesity is defined as having a Body Mass Index of 30 to 99.8 and is calculated based on responses to questions about height and weight.
  4. Diabetes rates are based in individual report that they have been diagnosed with diabetes.
  5. Physical inactivity is based on persons reporting no leisure-time physical activity in the past 30 days.