The Population Profile Worksheets can help you sort through all the data available from the U.S. Census Bureau about your community. Population data can tell you if your community is at a higher risk of poor health because of its economic status, racial composition, education level, or some other demographic factor. Population data is important to identifying health needs and in planning community-based nutrition and physical activity programs and services.
The Population Profile Summary Sheet includes some questions to help you analyze your population data, and it encourages you to record on one page the population data highlights. Another piece that may be helpful to you when using these population worksheets is the “Race and Ethnicity Overview.” It discusses why race and ethnicity data are relevant to people planning nutrition and physical activity programs. It also helps you understand the race and ethnicity numbers from the census data, and it includes suggested actions if your community includes racial and ethnic minority groups.