Healthy people 2010--leading health indicators for women.

To examine the health status of women in relationship to the targets for the Healthy People 2010 ten Leading Health Indicators (LHIs), this paper compares females and males, as well as females by age groups. The data presented in this study were collected from publicly available sources, including Healthy People 2010 publications and websites, as well as Health US 2000. In addition, the lead agency Department of Health and Human Services workgroup coordinators provided clarifying information. Women were found to have better health status than men on half of the LHIs. When examined by age, data for the LHIs provide additional insights on where to target interventions to improve women's health. For adolescent females, the biggest challenges to meet the year 2010 targets are in reducing tobacco use, obesity, motor vehicle deaths, and homicides. For adult females, the greatest public health challenges are in increasing physical activity, reducing obesity, and obtaining immunizations.