New Health Indicators on PolicyMap

With a growing concern for health in the nation, people are looking at factors that may contribute to a healthy life style. You, too, can look at trends in health related behaviors! PolicyMap has added three new health indicators from the Census County Business Patterns: Fitness and Rec Centers, Fast-food Restaurants, and Liquor Stores. The data consists of the annual counts and rates per 100,000 people from 2003 to 2012.

As a whole, the US has more than 72 fast food restaurants per 100,000 people as of 2012, an 18% increase from 2003. Liquor stores and gyms increased at about 11% and 6% respectively. The data shows that the number of fast food establishments is growing at a rate three times faster than the number of gyms. Could this be contributing to our nation’s rising rates of obesity and diabetes? You may have to look more closely at these health determinants and indicators, region by region, to find out.

These indicators can help paint the picture of the overall health in the US. The map below shows the number of fitness and rec centers per 100,000 people in 2012 in the Northeast. New England has consistently higher rates than the national average. Are New Englanders going to the gym more often than the rest of the country? To what extent does this affect the health of this area? These maps can help us gain a better understanding of these trends, but cannot answer these questions in full. However, the higher concentration of gyms can be one of many factors for the low rates of obesity in the Northeast.

Check out PolicyMap’s health data for yourself, and explore our new health factors. The Fast-Food and Takeout Restaurants and Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores indicators are located under Health > Local Foods& Businesses. Fitness and Rec Centers can be found under Health > Health Resources.