Compared to Distribution

an indicator guage with the arrow in the green the value is in the best half of communities.

an indicator guage with the arrow in the yellow the value is in the 2nd worst quarter of communities.

an indicator guage with the arrow in the red the value is in the worst quarter of communities.

Compared to Target

green circle with white tick inside it meets target; red circle with white cross inside it does not meet target.

Compared to a Single Value

green diamond with downward arrow inside it lower than the comparison value; red diamond with downward arrow inside it higher than the comparison value; blue diamond with downward arrow inside it not statistically different from comparison value.

Trend

green square outline with upward trending arrow inside it green square outline with downward trending arrow inside it non-significant change over time; green square with upward trending arrow inside it green square with downward trending arrow inside it significant change over time; blue square with equals sign no change over time.

Compared to Prior Value

green triangle with upward trending arrow inside it higher than the previous measurement period; green triangle with downward trending arrow inside it lower than the previous measurement period; blue equals sign no statistically different change from previous measurement period.

green chart bars Significantly better than the overall value

red chart bars Significantly worse than the overall value

light blue chart bars No significant difference with the overall value

gray chart bars No data on significance available

Schools Requiring Education on Tobacco Use and Addiction

Measurement Period: 2016

This indicator shows the percentage of public schools grades 6 to 12 that require students to take at least one health education course to increase student knowledge on tobacco use prevention and addiction.

Why is this important?

Schools provide an opportunity to spread health education outside of traditional health care settings. Additionally, information can be tailored to have the greatest impact on the target population. School-based education on tobacco use and addiction is important because tobacco use is most often initiated and established during adolescence. More than 80% of adult smokers began using tobacco before the age of 18 years. Preventing addiction at a young age will reduce the rate of tobacco use in the entire population, thereby lowering the rates of tobacco-related illness.

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