This report profiles the 2000 status of and changes since 1990 in rates of health and

health-related measures for racially and culturally diverse populations living in the

nation’s 100 largest cities and their suburbs. Data were drawn from the U.S. Census

Bureau and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to identify patterns in

race/ethnicity, foreign-born status, language use, poverty, income, low birth weight, teen

births, prenatal care, and tuberculosis.

The increase in racially and ethnically diverse populations has driven the growth of cities and suburbs in the United States at the end of the twentieth century. This dynamic has intensified the concerns of health professionals about the sizable and persistent disparities in the health of these diverse populations compared to non-Hispanic whites, and about the capacity of local social and health institutions to address the needs of all of their residents. These population trends also raise questions about the extent to which the nation’s major cities and their suburbs share common challenges as they strive to reduce health disparities.