April 2015

Overview

Violence, particularly among youth, is a major public health problem that has a significant impact on the health and well-being of our country. Youth who are victims of violence also have a higher risk for many physical and mental health problems, including smoking, obesity, high-risk sexual behavior, asthma, depression, academic problems, and suicide.^{i, ii, iii, iv} Homicide remains a leading cause of death among youth ages 10 to 24. Among high school students in 2013, about 1 in 4 reported being in at least 1 physical fight, and about 1 in 5 reported being bullied on school property in the last year.^v

Learn More About Injury and Violence

Leading Health Indicators

Leading Health Indicators (LHI) are critical health issues that – if tackled appropriately – will dramatically reduce the leading causes of death and preventable illnesses. The Injury and Violence LHIs are:

• Injury deaths
• Homicides

Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going

Between 2003 and 2007, the death rate from all injuries increased by 5.9%, from 56.3 to 59.7 deaths per 100,000 population (age adjusted). However, the injury death rate declined by 1.5% between 2007 and 2013, to 58.8 deaths per 100,000 population (age adjusted). The homicide rate did not change between 2003 and 2007 (6.1 deaths per 100,000 population, age adjusted). However, the homicide rate declined by 15% between 2007 and 2013, to 5.2 per 100,000 population (age adjusted). In 2013, several population groups had lower rates of injury deaths and homicide than their counterparts, including the Asian or Pacific Islander population, women, and persons born outside of the U.S.

Who’s Leading the Leading Health Indicators?

Preventing Youth Violence: The Youth Empowerment Solutions (YES) Program

Youth violence is a preventable public health problem. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is helping communities to implement prevention strategies that are based on the best available evidence.

One example is the city of Flint, Michigan, which experiences high rates of poverty, unemployment, and violence.^vi In 2013, the rate of murder or non-negligent, voluntary, manslaughter was 13.7 per 100,000 inhabitants, reflecting 57 deaths that year and representing the 5th highest rate for a metropolitan area in the country.^vii To address youth violence in this community, the Michigan Youth Violence Prevention Center at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health developed and implemented the Youth Empowerment Solutions (YES) program as one component of a comprehensive strategy to prevent youth violence. The YES program engages middle school students in conceiving, planning, and carrying out community improvement projects in their local neighborhoods. The goal of the YES program is to empower youth to affect their communities in positive ways, and in turn modify the environmental conditions that contribute to youth violence. The program includes a 16-week after-school curriculum that focuses on developing leadership skills, community pride, program planning, and resource mobilization. Community projects implemented by YES participants include cleaning up neighborhoods, creating murals, planting community gardens, building playgrounds, and other initiatives chosen by the youth. YES integrates empowerment and ecological theories to create positive youth development and community change, resulting in peace promotion and violence prevention.^viii The YES curriculum provides youth with the tools to become leaders among their peers and change their community, which can lead to reduced violence and crime in their neighborhoods.^iv

Read the Full Story

Leading Health Indicator Infographic

ⁱ Arseneault L, Walsh E, Trzeniewski K, Newcombe R, Caspi A. Bullying victimization uniquely contributes to adjustment problems in young children: a nationally representative cohort study. Pediatrics 2006;118(1):130-8.

ⁱⁱ Finkelhor D, Turner H, Ormrod R. Kid’s stuff: the nature and impact of peer and sibling violence on younger and older children. Child Abuse Negl 2006;30(12):1401-21.

ⁱⁱⁱ Menard S. Short- and long-term consequences of adolescent victimization. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2002.

^iv Swahn MH, Bossarte RM. The associations between victimization, feeling unsafe, and asthma episodes among US high-school students. Am J Public Health 2006;96(5):802-4.

^v Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Youth online: high school YRBS [Internet]. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. 2013 [cited 2014 Jun 12]. Available from: http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/youthonline/App/Default.aspx.

^vi http://yes.sph.umich.edu/about-us/

^vii http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-2013/tables/6tabledatadecpdf/table-6

^viii http://yes.sph.umich.edu/

Reference in this bulletin to any specific product, process, service, organization, or company does not constitute its endorsement or recommendation by the U.S. Government or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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