Leading Health Indicators

LHI label

Leading Health Indicators (LHIs) are a small subset of high-priority Healthy People 2030 objectives selected to drive action toward improving health and well-being. As a set, LHIs cover the life span and include objectives across topic areas. Most LHIs address important factors that impact major causes of death and disease in the United States, and they help organizations, communities, and states across the nation focus their resources and efforts to improve the health and well-being of all people. Healthy People 2030 includes 23 LHIs.

And to learn how LHIs are connected to other Healthy People objectives and the Healthy People 2030 vision, check out our Healthy People 2030 Objectives and Measures graphic.

Interested in tracking LHIs over the decade? Use the Healthy People 2030 Leading Health Indicators Custom List.

LHI label

Look for the LHI label on individual objective pages — it indicates that an objective is also an LHI.

Selection Criteria for Leading Health Indicators

LHIs were selected based on:

 

As a set, LHIs cover the life span. Based on the selection criteria, all LHIs:

  • Are core objectives
  • Focus on upstream measures, such as risk factors and behaviors, rather than disease outcomes
  • Address issues of national importance
  • Address high-priority public health issues that have a major impact on public health outcomes
  • Are modifiable in the short term (through evidence-based interventions and strategies to motivate action at the national, state, local, and community level)
  • Address social determinants of health, health disparities, and health equity
  • Have new data available periodically, preferably annually

Data Requirements for Leading Health Indicators

Data requirements for LHIs include:

  • Valid, reliable, nationally representative data
  • Data with no major methodological concerns
  • Data with demographic and geographic detail (preferred)
  • Federal government management or oversight of data sources
  • Publicly available data sources