DOH RELEASES STATEWIDE BEHAVIORAL SURVEY DATA

- Data shows that obesity rates in Florida increased by nearly 65 percent during the last 12 years -

TALLAHASSEE – The Florida Department of Health (DOH) today released the 2009 statewide Florida Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data and 2010 county-specific data reports. These important health statistics assist DOH and local communities in monitoring health and behavior trends, responding to emerging issues and making health-related policy and intervention decisions.

“The Florida Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System is an extremely important collection of data because it gives us a glimpse into the personal health behaviors of Floridians,” said Dr. Julia Gill, director of DOH’s Division of Disease Control. “From the results of this statewide survey, we can measure where progress has been made and where work is still needed, allowing us to better focus our resources.”

The BRFSS report contains state and county-specific information on a variety of issues related to health status, health care access, lifestyle, chronic illnesses and disease prevention and control practices. The data is broken down by socio-demographic characteristics to aid in the identification of populations at highest risk for illness, disability and death.

Overall, the statewide data shows that about 83 percent of Florida adults consider their health good or excellent, but only 24 percent of adults are consuming the recommended five or more servings of fruits and vegetable per day. Additional trends and findings include:

In the past 14 years, the prevalence of reported high cholesterol among adult Floridians has increased 28.1 percent.


In the past decade, the prevalence of diabetes among adults in Florida has increased 57.4 percent.


College graduates significantly engaged in more leisure time physical activities than other education groups, with the prevalence of Floridians who engage in no leisure time physical activity decreasing from 27.1 percent in 1996 to 24.7 percent in 2009.


The prevalence of high blood pressure has risen 37.8 percent in the past 14 years.


The prevalence of Floridians who currently smoke has declined from 1997 (23.6 percent) to 2009 (17.1 percent).

The data also show that over 26 percent Florida adults are obese (defined as having a body mass index of 30 or more) and nearly 37 percent are overweight (defined as having a body mass index between 25 and 29.9). These indicators match up with nearly 25 percent of people who have not participated in any leisure time physical activity, over 40 percent who have been told they have high cholesterol and nearly 11 percent with diagnosed diabetes.

“This significant increase in obesity rates, combined with the rise in other weight-related trends such as high cholesterol and diabetes, is a clear indicator that Floridians should prioritize healthy eating and exercise,” said State Surgeon General Dr. Frank Farmer. 

The BRFSS is a state-based system of health surveys administered by telephone. Conducted since 1986, DOH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) use this data to shape state and local priority health issues, plan and evaluate prevention and control programs, educate the community and policy makers about disease prevention, support community policies that promote health, and prevent disease. More than 35,000 interviews were completed with adults in households for the data to be representative of the overall state or county populations. The 2009 CDC summary reports, the 2010 county reports and the new “Florida Behavioral Risk Factors: Results from the 2000 to 2009 Florida Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System" are available online at http://www.doh.state.fl.us/Disease_ctrl/epi/brfss/reports.htm.  

Franklin

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