Young adults in the United States aged 18-29 face a number of health challenges, including increases in obesity, high injury rates, and lack of insurance coverage compared to older adults, according to Health, United States: 2008, the 32nd edition of an annual report prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics.
This year′s report features a special section on adults aged 18 to 29, a group making many life choices that will affect their future economic and health status. Among the report’s findings are a tripling in obesity rates among young adults in the past three decades, from 8 percent in 1971-1974 to 24 percent in 2005-2006; a high percentage of uninsured young adults, especially in the 20-24 age group (34 percent); and a significant number of young adults (17 percent) who reported needing but not receiving medical care, prescription medicines, mental health care, or eyeglasses because they could not afford them.
The full report is available at www.cdc.gov/nchs.
