Since the 2008 Edition, overall health in the United States has increased slightly from 18.9 percent to 20.1 percent above the 1990 baseline. This increase is primarily due to a decline in the prevalence of smoking, a significant decline from 19.8 percent to 18.3 percent of the population.

The national changes in the last year are shown below. In addition to a decrease in the prevalence of smoking, other improvements included decreases in the occupational fatalities rate, the rate of deaths from cardiovascular disease and the incidence of infectious disease, and an increase in per capita public health funding. These improvements were offset by a deterioration in several measures, including an increase in the prevalence of obesity from 26.3 percent to 26.6 percent of the population, an increase in the percentage of children in poverty from 18.0 percent to 19.0 percent of persons under age 18 and a decrease in the high school graduation rate from 74.7 percent to 73.4 percent of incoming ninth graders who graduate within four years.

National Measures of Successes and Challenges: 2008 to 2009