Data about individual children, groups of children in the program, local communities, and national health trends work together to show the overall health and well-being of children, pregnant women, and families in Head Start programs.

Child Data 

Child data helps staff check and support each child’s well-being. This information also helps staff adapt services to meet each child’s health, mental health, developmental, and learning needs. For example, programs collect data on each child’s attendance. If a child has a chronic health condition, health managers can use information from the daily health check, conversations with the family, and teacher observations to address health concerns and make it easier for the child to attend the program every day. 

Here are some examples of child health data: 

• Information from health forms (heights, weights, blood lead levels, chronic health conditions, and health care providers)
• Vision and hearing screening results
• Nutrition assessments
• Daily health checks and teacher observations
• Information from the family about health and behavioral health concerns
• Updates from families or health care providers on new diagnoses or changes in care

Group Data from a Classroom or Other Early Childhood Setting

Programs can combine individual child data to find patterns and trends in groups of children. For example, health managers can review injury reports for each group of children to learn when and where injuries happen and if the injuries involve equipment. They can use this information to find out about the causes of injuries and share this information with staff to prevent incidents. 

Here are some examples of group health data:

• Number of injuries reported in a specific period by group or site
• Allergies and care plans for children with special health care needs by group
• Attendance records by group or site 

Program Data

Health managers can combine data from all groups, sites, and program options to find patterns and trends. For example, they can use data from children’s enrollment forms and health records to find out who their health care providers are and invite a representative from these practices to join their HMHSAC. Their program’s annual self-assessment can reveal data on systems and services that may need to be stronger.

For example, program data from indoor and outdoor inspections and maintenance reports can show which areas may need repair. This can help programs make sure that all areas are safe for children.

Here are some examples of program data:

• Number of children with high blood lead levels
• Number of injuries reported throughout the year from all program locations
• Attendance data for the whole program
• Local health, oral health, and mental health providers that accept Medicaid 

Community Data

Health managers can play a valuable role in collecting and analyzing community data for their program’s community assessment. For example, they can collect community data on availability and gaps in health and mental health services. Health managers can use this data to adapt health and mental health services to meet the needs of enrolled children, pregnant women, and families.  

Here are some examples of community data:

• Incidence of:
  • Child abuse and neglect
  • Domestic violence
  • Community violence
  • Substance use
• Pregnancy and birth outcomes
• SDOH conditions, including:
  • The number and location of accessible supermarkets or grocery stores that offer healthy and affordable food
  • Availability of parks, playgrounds, and safe outdoor spaces for children to play
  • The number and type of health care providers and their ability to serve Head Start children and families, including the number that accept Medicaid
• Community health issues, including:
  • Chronic health conditions
  • Communicable diseases
  • Environmental concerns (for example, air and water quality)
  • Physical, oral, and mental health provider shortages
• Information from the HMHSAC on common community health problems

Tips and Strategies for Health Data

• Ask yourself what you need to know or can do to support the health, safety, and well-being of children and families. Decide what data will help you answer this question. Continue to ask questions and collect more data until you have enough information to make a plan to address concerns. Then collect data to find out if you have reached your goal.
• Compare and analyze data. Look at the health data that you collect on enrolled families and see how it is like or different from community data and national statistics. Analyze the data, and plan how to make sure you address areas that need to be stronger.  
• Coordinate with other managers. Talk to managers of education, disabilities, nutrition, mental health, and family services, and to other managers, about your data and the data they collect. This will help you develop a coordinated way to meet the needs of children and families.
• Work with program leaders to learn about your community assessment and annual self-assessment and how you can contribute health data.
• Find gaps in your data. Consider whether you have enough data and the right data to understand an issue, or if you need to collect more or different data.
• Look for patterns or trends. Use this information to plan professional development activities and recruit community partners. For example:
  • Your injury reports show that the highest rates of playground injuries are in October and May. You plan extra training on injury prevention strategies in September and April and then track the results.  
  • Your enrollment forms show that many children have never seen a dentist. You invite a dentist to talk with families about the importance of oral care.
• Use Places: Local Data for Better Health from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to find community data by county, place, census tract, and ZIP code. Programs can use this information to better understand local health issues that affect urban and rural areas.
• Use CDC’s website on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity Data to find data on these topics.
• Review the March of Dimes’ data statistics to help you plan services to pregnant women and expectant families.
• Learn about sources of local health data available through your state, territorial, or Tribal health departments.
• Review several years of health and mental health services data in your Program Information Report. 

Learn More

National Center for Health Statistics