People can now access city- and neighborhood-level health data for the largest 500 cities in the U.S. through a new interactive web application, part of the 500 Cities Project, a partnership between the CDC, the CDC Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The 500 Cities Project analyzes and reports on 27 chronic disease measures, including health outcomes like arthritis, high blood pressure and diabetes; and risk factors, like binge drinking, smoking and obesity.
"Having the ability to report and map health data at city and neighborhood level is a game-changer for public health," said Wayne Giles, MD, director of the CDC's Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention. "Local level data available through the 500 Cities website provide health information to better inform and target strategies that are proven to work in improving health."
Data available through the 500 Cities Project is intended to help public health professionals, policymakers and researchers target interventions where they are needed most and establish key health goals for cities or neighborhoods.
The launch of the interactive app represents the first time such data is available at a city or neighborhood level.