The second edition of 'The Nation's Health' is an extensively revised and updated assessment of trends in health status and public health policy and practice over the last decade. Its wide-ranging scientific analysis forms the basis for developing 17 health priorities and a clearly defined strategy for improving health over the next decade. Topics considered in depth range from income, employment, housing and nutrition, to aspects of lifestyle such as tobacco, alcohol consumption and exercise, as well as preventive health services such as cancer screening. The report also includes an analysis of opportunities for improving health at every stage in life from cradle to grave.