Adolescent Health

Health status

• Percent of adolescents aged 12–17 years who are in excellent or very good health: 82.3%

Source: Summary Health Statistics Tables for U.S. Children: National Health Interview Survey, 2016, Table C-5c [PDF – 134 KB]

• Percent of adolescents aged 12–17 years who missed 11 or more days of school in the past 12 months because of illness or injury: 4.8%

Source: Summary Health Statistics Tables for U.S. Children: National Health Interview Survey, 2016, Table C-6c [PDF – 136 KB]

Obesity

• Percent of adolescents aged 12–19 years who are obese: 20.6% (2015-2016)

Source: Health, United States, 2017, table 53 [PDF – 9.8 MB]

Smoking and alcohol use

• Percent of adolescents aged 12–17 years who smoked cigarettes in the past month: 3.4% (2016)
• Percent of adolescents aged 12–17 years who used alcohol in the past month: 9.2% (2016)

Source: Health, United States, 2017, table 50 [PDF – 9.8 MB]

Access to health care

• Percent of adolescents aged 12–17 years with no usual source of health care: 5.9%

Source: Summary Health Statistics Tables for U.S. Children: National Health Interview Survey, 2016, Table C-7c [PDF – 173 KB]

• Percent of adolescents aged 12–17 years without health insurance: 6.6%

Source: Summary Health Statistics Tables for the U.S. Population: National Health Interview Survey, 2016, Table P-11c [PDF – 236 KB]

Mortality

• Number of deaths for adolescents aged 15–19 years: 10,812
• Deaths per 100,000 population for adolescents aged 15–19 years: 51.2

Source: Deaths: Final Data for 2016, table 2 [PDF – 2 MB]

Leading causes of death

Leading causes of deaths among adolescents aged 15–19 years:

• Accidents (unintentional injuries)
• Suicide
• Homicide

Source: Deaths: Leading Causes for 2016, table 1 [PDF – 2 MB]