Division of Population Health

Appendix
Healthy People 2020 Objectives
Healthy People 2020 is a set of 10-year national objectives for improving the health of all Americans.
For the past 30 years, Healthy People 2020 objectives have been implemented to measure the impact
of prevention activities, encourage collaborations across communities and sectors, and empower
individuals to make informed health decisions. These objectives set specific targets to help guide states,
communities, and professional organizations to identify, develop, and evaluate programs and policies
that promote healthy aging. Healthy People 2020 objectives and targets were developed in consultation
with a wide range of experts on the basis of the best available and most current scientific knowledge.
In this report, several of the indicators used to assess the health of adults aged 65 years or older are
based on Healthy People 2020 targets. Some of these targets (i.e., no leisure-time physical activity,
obesity, current smoking, taking medication for high blood pressure, mammogram within past 2 years,
and colorectal cancer screening) are for age groups beyond just 65 years or older. For these targets,
this report focuses on whether the older adult population met the general target. The Behavioral
Risk Factor Surveillance System is not the official tracker for most Healthy People 2020 targets, but it
provides state-level data that are the basis for this report.
Table 6. Report Indicators and Associated Healthy People 2020 Targets
Indicator
Healthy People 2020 Target
Health Status
1. Physically unhealthy days No target specified.
2. Frequent mental distress No target specified.
3. Oral health: tooth retention (%) No target specified.
4. Disability (%) No target specified.
Health Behaviors
5. No leisure-time physical activity No more than 32.6% of adults aged 18 or older with no leisure-time physical activity.
6. Eating fruits and vegetables daily:
Eating ≥2 fruits daily (%)
Healthy People 2020 tracks the overall increase in fruit and vegetable consumption,
rather than separating it into two components.
Eating ≥3 vegetables daily (%)
7. Obesity (%) No more than 30.6% of adults aged 20 or older who are obese.
8. Current smoking (%) No more than 12% of adults aged 18 or older who smoke.
9. Taking medication for high blood pressure At least 77.4% of adults aged 18 or older with high blood pressure/hypertension
taking the prescribed medications to lower their blood pressure.
Preventive Care and Screening
10. Flu vaccine in past year (%) At least 90% of adults aged 65 or older who had a flu shot within the past year.
11. Ever had pneumonia vaccine (%) At least 90% of adults aged 65 or older who had ever received a pneumonia vaccine.
12. Mammogram within past 2 years (%) At least 81.1% of women aged 50–74 have had a mammogram in the past 2 years.
13. Colorectal cancer screening (%) At least 70.5% of adults will receive a colorectal cancer screening based on the
most recent guidelines.
14. Up-to-date on select preventive services (%)
Men
Women
At least 50.9% of men and 52.7% of women aged 65 years or older are up-to-date on
a core set of clinical preventive services. For men, 3 services are included (flu vaccine
in past year, ever had pnemonia vaccine, and colorectal cancer screening. For women,
these same services are included, plus a mammogram within past 2 years.
Injuries
15. Fall with injury within past year (%) No target specified.
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, www.healthypeople.gov.
The State of Aging and Health in America 2013 PAGE 47