About the Colorado Health Report Card
How healthy are we?
Most Coloradans believe we are one of the healthiest states, based on studies that point to our low obesity rates and active lifestyle. The fact is that Colorado rates only average or below average on a number of critical health indicators used to measure overall health. The 2007 Colorado Health Report Card, along with information contained within this site, show how we are doing on a wide range of health measures and what we need to do to become the healthiest state in the nation.
New for 2007
The 2007 Report Card includes detailed information about the factors that pose the most risk. Together with the Colorado Health Institute, we selected 40 indicators that provide a more complete picture of the health of our state.
We believe everyone deserves a healthy start in life and the opportunity to maintain good health through all stages of life. The indicators are organized by life stages to help illustrate the health threats of greatest concern for each age group. The 2007 Report Card grades each of these five life stages to show how Coloradans fare at every age. The stages are: Healthy Beginnings, Healthy Children, Healthy Adolescents, Healthy Adults and Healthy Aging.
Within each life stage are five or more indicators used by most states and tracked by health organizations across the country. For most indicators we examined the most recent Colorado data, how we rank among the 50 states, and how close Colorado comes to goals set by the federal government in its Healthy People 2010 initiative. The grades for each life stage are an average of the rankings for indicators in that stage.
Expanded information available
Along with the 2007 Colorado Health Report Card, the Foundation has created several new resources to further explain the data and share promising initiatives for improving the related health behaviors and outcomes. Serving as a supplement to the Report Card, this site provides definitions, explanations, context and background about the indicators along with several graphs to provide a situational analysis for each of the indicators included in the Report Card.
The results are still underwhelming
Older adults in Colorado are doing relatively well but we still rank only average or below average on most indicators related to children. There is more work to be done to ensure that we do as well by our children as our older adults. The good news is that health and health care has become a priority in our state. Policymakers and health leaders are working on plans to increase the number of people covered by insurance. Having more of our children covered is now a possibility thanks to a diverse coalition of groups who are advocating expansion of the successful State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). We know there is still much to be done to make Colorado the healthiest state in the nation. We invite you to join us as we work to improve these grades and the health of all Coloradans.