RESEARCH & REPORTS

Obesity has increased dramatically over the past several decades, becoming one of the most significant preventable causes of morbidity and mortality in the U.S. Over the past 20 years, obesity rates have risen steadily in Indiana, from 20 percent in 1995 to 34 percent in 2017.

In 2016, the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation released a report showing that tobacco use has resulted in a major health and economic crisis in Indiana. Smoking claims thousands of Hoosier lives and costs Indiana billions of dollars each year.

In 2016, the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation released a report showing that Indiana was among the states hit hardest by the opioid crisis. In 2014, more than 1,100 Hoosiers died from drug poisoning— more than the number of fatalities from car accidents.

Indiana’s opioid epidemic has received much needed attention recently. But there is an even bigger public-health crisis that our state has so far failed to address: smoking. In 2016, Indiana had the 10th-highest smoking rate in the U.S. More than one in five Hoosier adults smoke— and we’re paying an enormous price for it. Each […]

Substance use represents a significant problem for individuals in Marion County. Fortunately, effective substance use prevention programs exist, including programs delivered at the school level.

In 2015, Indiana had one of the highest high school graduation rates of any state in the nation at 87.1 percent, and the narrowest graduation gap – 4.5 percentage points – between low-income and non-low-income students.