It's the time of year when people make resolutions to lose weight, exercise, eat healthier food, and the city of Racine, too, is working on its health resolutions, but more formally.

The city Health Department started last spring on its next Healthiest Racine plan. At the moment it's on hold while the person overseeing it is on medical leave, said Marcia Fernholz, the city's director of environmental health. In May will come a public hearing to gather public comment, and that will be combined with information from focus groups.

The next plan will also last for five years, but it probably won't be ready until next year, she said.

"There's so many things we need to do, and we don't have the staff or time to do everything," Fernholz said. "And we did very well, and most of those objectives have been met."

For this year, when the current plan ends, the city set 11 health priorities:

n Access to preventive services and preventive health services.

n Adequate and appropriate nutrition.

n Alcohol and other substance use and addiction.

n Environmental and occupational health hazards.

n Existing, emerging, and re-emerging communicable diseases.

n Social and economic factors that influence health.

n High-risk sexual behavior.

n Intentional and unintentional injuries and violence.

n Mental health and mental disorders.

n Overweight, obesity, and lack of physical activity.

n Tobacco use and exposure.

Each priority had an accompanying set of goals. On some of those, committees and health workers have made good progress, Fernholz said. For example, the court system began a special drug court to help people with addictions, she said, and Chartwells, the food contractor for the Racine Unified School District, has made a good effort to introduce healthier foods for its menus.

On the other side, access to health care didn't really change, Fernholz said, and there has been a bit of work to encourage exercise by publicizing walking routes. Then there's tobacco.

"We still have a long way to go with that because, unfortunately, youth are still getting their hands on tobacco," she said.

Health surveys also tell a story. Aurora Health Care, using a series of surveys recently mailed out in Racine County, compiles area health profiles. From 2003 to 2005 (the last year for which results are available), the percentage of people reporting excellent or very good health decreased by 2 points in the Racine area and 7 points in Mount Pleasant and Caledonia. In western Racine County, the score increased by 1 point.

The percentage of people told during the previous three years that they had high blood pressure or cholesterol also increased in each community, as did the percentage of people overweight. Fewer people reported eating the recommended two or more servings of fruit and three or more servings of vegetables each day. The extreme was western Racine County were there was an 11-point drop in people saying the ate the recommended amounts of vegetables. Only in Caledonia and Mount Pleasant was there a positive change: The percentage of people reporting they met or exceeded the recommended fruit intake increased by 2 percentage points.