Healthy North Texas :: Community Dashboard

The colored gauge gives a visual representation of how your community is doing in comparison to other communities. The three-colored dial represents the distribution of values from the reporting regions (e.g. counties in the state) ordered from those doing the best to those doing the worst (sometimes lower values are better and in other cases higher values are better). From that distribution, the green represents the top 50th percentile, the yellow represents the 25th to 50th percentile, and the red represents the "worst" quartile.

This gauge shows whether the County: Dallas value is increasing or decreasing over time. A green arrow means the value is improving and a red arrow means the value is getting worse. The = (equal) sign means that there is not a significant increase or decrease since the last measurement. A blue arrow means the value being higher (or lower) is not necessarily good or bad.

County
Time Period

39.9

50.7

Red > 50.7
Green <= 39.9
In-between = Yellow
Unit: percent
View the Legend

Students Eligible for the Free Lunch Program

Value:	61.6 percent
Measurement Period:	2009
Location:	County : Dallas Located in: Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA): Dallas-Plano-Irving Substate Region: Region 3a TEA Region: Region 10 State: Texas [ View Every County ]
Comparison:	U.S. Counties
Categories:	Economy / Poverty Economy / Government Assistance Programs

Why do some zip codes appear, while others do not?
Zip code boundaries change from year to year. Changes include new, consolidated, and removed zip codes and occur more frequently than indicator data is collected and reported. Therefore HCI must select Zip Code boundary files that most closely match the geographies for which we have data.

My Indicator has a map tag, but I cannot see a map.
A map is missing only when a site maintains indicator data at a geography that is NOT included in our map boundary file. Example: data for Zip Code 12345 is from 2010, and Zip Code 12345 no longer exists as of 2012, the year of HCI's zip code boundary file. Therefore the map for this zip code cannot be displayed.

Why can't I see my custom service area?
HCI maps are designed to map standard geographies (county, zip code, and census tract) and in most cases will not display a custom area.

Why is the indicator data year for one location different from the others?
HCI will occasionally suppress values due to instability of the reported data. Consequently, values shown at other locations on the map may be from different measurement periods than the one shown on this page. Example: Zip Code 1 and Zip Code 2 both have 2010 data for the same indicator, but the data for Zip Code 2 is unstable. Our system will show 2010 data for Zip Code 1, and suppress the 2010 data for Zip Code 2, instead showing the most currently available, stable data.

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What is this Indicator?

This indicator shows the percentage of students eligible to participate in the Free Lunch Program under the National School Lunch Program.

Why this is important:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a federally assisted meal program operating in public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care institutions. The Free Lunch Program (FLP) under the NSLP has been providing nutritionally balanced lunches to children at no cost since 1946. Families who meet the income eligibility requirements or who receive Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits can apply through their children's school to receive free meals. The FLP ensures that students who may otherwise not have access to a nutritious meal are fed during the school day. This helps students remain focused and productive in school. Moreover, the lunches help students meet their basic nutritional requirements when their families may not be able to consistently provide a balanced and varied diet.

Technical Note: The distribution is based on data from 3,130 U.S. counties and county equivalents.

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture - Food Environment Atlas

URL of Source: http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-environment-at...

URL of Data: http://www.ers.usda.gov/FoodAtlas/downloadData.htm

Maintained By: Healthy Communities Institute

Time Series Data

percent

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How are these indicators calculated?	Return to Community Dashboard Home

Going up
Unit: percent
View the Legend