Vital statistics

Vital statistics

Vital statistics are the information maintained by a government, recording the birth and death of individuals within that government's jurisdiction. These data are used by public health programs to evaluate how effective their programs are. They are the cornerstone of public health systems today.

A useful by-product of birth and death registration are official certificates of those events. These certificates serve as "prima facie" evidence of that event.

The agency responsible for overseeing this system in the United States is the National Center for Health Statistics, a division of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In slang it can also refer to bust-waist-hip measurement (BWH)

ee also

* Birth Certificate
* Death Certificate
* Vital record


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  • Vital statistics — Vital Vi tal, a. [F., fr. L. vitalis, fr. vita life; akin to vivere to live. See {Vivid}.] 1. Belonging or relating to life, either animal or vegetable; as, vital energies; vital functions; vital actions. [1913 Webster] 2. Contributing to life;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • vital statistics — 1837, with reference to birth, marriage, death, etc.; meaning a woman s bust, waist, and hip measurements is from 1952. See VITAL (Cf. vital) …   Etymology dictionary

  • vital statistics — index census Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • vital statistics — ► PLURAL NOUN 1) quantitative data concerning the population, such as the number of births, marriages, and deaths. 2) informal the measurements of a woman s bust, waist, and hips …   English terms dictionary

  • vital statistics — n. 1. data on births, deaths, marriages, etc. 2. specific facts, and, often, quantitative information, about a person or thing 3. Informal a woman s bust, waist, and hip measurements …   English World dictionary

  • VITAL STATISTICS — Introduction GENERAL EXPLANATION Population changes reflect the natural facts of life: births and deaths. Births, in turn, have long been largely governed by the mechanisms of family formation. Vital statistics are compilations of data on… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • vital statistics — 1) N PLURAL: usu with poss The vital statistics of a population are statistics such as the number of births, deaths, or marriages which take place in it. 2) N PLURAL: usu with poss Someone s vital statistics, especially a woman s, are the… …   English dictionary

  • vital statistics — n. to gather; record; report vital statistics * * * [ˌvaɪtlstə tɪstɪks] record report vital statistics to gather …   Combinatory dictionary

  • vital statistics — n. the measurements of a person’s body. □ Her vital statistics must require higher math to work out! □ Here are his vital statistics for those who are interested …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

  • vital statistics — Statistics of births, deaths, and marriages within a country, which provide the essential basis for demography . They include crude rates matching vital events to total populations, and more sophisticated measures of fertility, nuptiality, and… …   Dictionary of sociology

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