For immediate release: May 2, 2008 (08-068)

Contacts:
Katrina Wynkoop Simmons, BRFSS Coordinator 360-236-4322
Allison Cook, Communications Office 360-236-4022

What are your health habits? A new Web site will tell

OLYMPIA ¾ What percent of people smoke in my county? How many people are overweight? What percent of people binge drink? These questions can be answered on the Department of Health’s new Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System’s (BRFSS-IQ) Web site.

This new Web site was created by the Department of Health. Information on healthy behaviors, risky behaviors, and health conditions for people in our state is available; it’s also available on a county perspective.

For more than 20 years, Washington State’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (https://fortress.wa.gov/doh/brfss) has surveyed adults on a wide range of behaviors that affect their health. Survey questions focus on behaviors and conditions that are linked with the leading causes of death — heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and injury — and other important health issues affecting our population.

“It’s important to know the things people are doing that impact their health,” said Jude VanBuren, the agency’s assistant secretary for Epidemiology, Health Statistics, and Public Health Laboratories. “We use this information to guide the work we do to protect and improve the health of people in our state.”

Lack of physical activity, being overweight, not using seatbelts, using tobacco and alcohol are other factors that can impact your health. Getting preventive medical care — flu shots, mammograms, pap smears, and colorectal cancer screening tests for example — can save lives.

The survey is the main source of data for local health agencies, state agencies, and the nation on health-related behaviors of adults. Information is collected through telephone interviews with adults. Interviewers ask questions related to behaviors that are linked with preventable chronic diseases, injuries, and infectious diseases. All interviews are confidential and no individual information is released.

For the first time, everyone can see how many people practice healthy habits. For example, how many people eat five or more fruits and vegetables every day? How many people get moderate exercise? How many people get cancer screening tests? BRFSS-IQ will also let you find out what percent of people have risky health habits like not wearing seat belts, smoking, or binge drinking.

This new system will show the percent of adults and an estimated number of people in the whole population who have a condition or habit. It also lets you look at your own county, a group of counties, or the whole state at once. Local data is now available to local residents and you can compare your county to the rest of the state.

The BRFSS-IQ helps state residents live healthier lives. By providing access to current, high quality health data about behavioral risk factors, people can make better informed decisions about their health.

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