The following announcement is posted on behalf of The National Center for
Education Statistics:

The Health Literacy of America's Adults: Results from the 2003 National
Assessment of Adult Literacy (9/6/2006) 

Results from the Health Literacy component of the 2003 National Assessment
of Adult Literacy (NAAL) were just released. The health literacy findings
are based on the first large-scale national assessment designed specifically
to measure the health literacy of adults living in America. This report
measures health literacy among American adults including their ability to
read, understand, and apply health-related information in English. 

Findings include:
*	The majority of American adults (53 percent) had Intermediate health
literacy. Fewer than 15 percent of adults had either Below Basic or
Proficient health literacy. 
*	Women had higher average health literacy than men. 
*	Adults who were ages 65 and older had lower average health literacy
than younger adults. 
*	Hispanic adults had lower average health literacy than adults in any
other racial/ethnic group. 

To download, view and print the publication as a PDF file, please visit:
<http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006483>

To view other NAAL reports and for more information, visit
<http://nces.ed.gov/naal>

Jaleh Behroozi Soroui
Education Statistics Services Institute (ESSI-Stat)
American Institutes for Research 
1990 K Street, NW Suite 500 
Washington, DC 20006
Phone: 202/403-6958
email: jsoroui at air.org