Health Behaviors of Adults: United States, 2005-2007

Objective: This report presents selected prevalence estimates for key indicators of alcohol use, cigarette smoking, leisure-time physical activity, body weight status, and sleep among U.S. adults, using data from the 2005-2007 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). The NHIS is conducted annually by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. Estimates are shown for several sociodemographic subgroups for both sexes combined and for men and women separately. The subgroups are compared in terms of their prevalence of "healthy" and "unhealthy" behaviors.

Methods: Data for the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population were collected by the NHIS using computer-assisted personal interviews (CAPI). Questions on health behaviors were asked of one randomly selected adult per family in the Sample Adult component of the basic core questionnaire. This report is based on a total of 79,096 completed interviews with sample adults aged 18 years and over, representing an overall sample adult response rate of 69.2% for the 3 years combined. Statistics shown in this report were age adjusted to the 2000 U.S. standard population.

Results: Overall, 6 in 10 (61.2%) U.S. adults were current drinkers in 2005-2007; about 1 in 4 adults (24.6%) were lifetime abstainers. About 1 in 5 adults (20.4%) were current smokers and over one-half of adults (58.5%) had never smoked cigarettes. About 4 in 10 (42.5%) current smokers tried to quit smoking in the past year. About 6 in 10 adults engaged in at least some leisure-time physical activity with about 3 in 10 regularly engaging in such activities. About 6 in 10 adults were overweight or obese (BMI > 25), with about 4 in 10 adults being of healthy weight. About 6 in 10 adults usually slept 7 to 8 hours in a 24-hour period.